The daughter of Aaron Engler found a new friend--her own reflection! Watch this cute little girl pop up and down, catching herself in the window.
-via Huffington Post
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This is The Great Hare, a sculpture by Canadian artist Mary Catherine Newcomb. She made the 15-foot long structure from turf that she grew over shaped mounds of compost and soil. It was on public display in 2011 at the Cambridge Sculpture Garden for CAFKA, an art show in the Kitchener, Ontario area. She also made an 8-foot long indoor version in 2012.
Because of its construction, The Great Hare is, in a sense, a living object. In an interview, Newcomb described the creative process:
The process of making the Great Hare (my most recent piece) relates to the fibre arts in a specific way. The turf blanket is cut and sewn onto parts of a supporting frame so that it can grow into the supporting soil. As the grass grew, I would comb it and give the piece "haircuts".
-via Colossal
(Photo: AP)
Dorset is a small town in the middle of Minnesota. It has an informal, ceremonial government headed by a mayor, which is elected every year. When he was 3 years old, Bobby Tufts was elected to that position. The next year, he was re-elected. Bobby is a popular mayor, but he just lost his bid for a third term in that office.
Perhaps that's because in that town, you can literally buy votes. The election is actually a raffle. Each vote costs $1. The proceeds of the election fund a local festival.
Eric Mueller, a carpetbagger, won the election. He doesn't even live in Dorset, but in Mendota Heights. His family takes vacations in the area, so Mueller decided to run for mayor.
Bobby is taking the loss in stride. He had planned to run for President of the United States in 2048. He may still do so, but right now he's backing his 2-year old brother, James, for next mayoral race.
-via The Mary Sue
Murru Prison was a Soviet prison and forced labor camp on Lake Rummu in Estonia. The Soviet Union sent its enemies there to toil in the open-air quarry. But it is no longer an icon of tyranny. It's a pleasant beach and swimming hole where people while away their idle time. This footage shot by XL Studios shows happy people at play on the water and the ruins of the prison, which now serve as diving platforms.
The crystal blue waters are also a good place to go scuba diving. Much of the prison is now submerged in the water, giving divers plenty of places to explore
-via Nerdcore
(Photo: @nicolastaylor)
Yesterday, a man in Perth, Australia was boarding a train when he slipped and his leg became wedged between the train and the platform. He couldn't get out on his own. Other passengers tried to lift him up, but he was stuck.
So a crowd gathered around the train. On a signal, they all pushed the train until it tilted enough to free the man. David Hynes, a spokesman for the public transportation agency, described the incident to ABC News:
"We alerted the driver, made sure the train didn't move.
"Then our staff who were there at the time got the passengers, and there were lots of them, off the train, and organised them to sort of rock, tilt the train backwards away from the platform so they were able to get him out and rescue him."
The rescued man escaped the incident without any serious injuries--thanks to his new friends. You can watch the dramatic rescue in the video embedded below.
-via 22 Words
CORRECTION 8/11/14: I completely misread Schroeder's post. Lucas Danehl, an artist in Braunschweig, Germany, made this car. Schroeder just photographed it. My apologies to Mr. Danehl for misattributing his work.
Jacob Aaron Schroeder, an artist in Minneapolis, covered an old Volkswagen in popcorn and displayed it at the Braunschweig University of Art in Braunschweig, Germany. For Schroeder, food is not just sustenance, but a form that can be expressed with other materials, as you can see from his paintings designed to look like cakes.
-via Lustik
Last week, rain poured into the already-drenched Emmental region of Switzerland. The water flowed over the saturated ground into the Emme River, which ruptured in torrential floods. It gets this bad only once every 300 years.
You can get a sense of the force at work in this video, which shows a tiny stream suddenly erupting in waters so strong that they easily push huge rocks downstream.
Of course, the appropriate reaction to an event like this is to go surfing, which is precisely what these two men did in the raging waters.
-via The Presurfer
Lars, the Awkward Yeti, should count himself lucky. My brain would wait until the middle of the interview during a difficult question before reminding me of that incident.
Your brain has already demonstrated that it's trying to sabotage the job interview. Your best bet is to not use it at all tomorrow.
I like Amy Armstrong's novel hobo nickel design that mimics the famous movie poster for Jaws. The shark has already had a meal, but he's ready for more.
-via Hobo Nickel Art
This joyful fellow straddles Iron Hoof, a mechanical pony ride that supports up to 286 pounds of brony for a variable 3-speed ride. It plays music and operates on 220 volts. It's built over a welded steel frame and features a real saddle. Iron Hoof also has 2 coin slots, just like a real storefront kiddie ride.
DeviantART members Markus K., Saer Fallensun, Snow Chetah, and irgendeinwolf built this marvel for GalaCon 2014, a brony convention in Ludwigsburg, Germany this past weekend. It's currently for sale, so go get your wallets!
Every day, Tanaka Tatsuya uses everyday objects and miniatures to create dioramas. It’s a constant creative process that has obviously stimulated his imagination in excellent ways.
Since it is a daily activity, the artist refers to the project as the Miniature Calendar. You can see all of the photos in the series on his Facebook and Instagram pages.
Red-footed tortoises are often household pets. If you own one, you may have to share your tablet computer or smartphone with it from now on. With the right training, they can operate touch-screen interfaces. Researchers led by Dr. Anna Wilkinson of the University of Lincoln (UK) created a touch-screen activity that red-footed tortoises were able to understand. Laura Geggel writes:
The tortoises, which are native to Central and South America, don't have a hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning, memory and spatial navigation, Wilkinson said. Instead, red-footed tortoises may rely on an area of the brain called the medial cortex, an area associated with complex cognitive behavior and decision making in people. To understand how tortoises learn, the researchers tested how the reptiles relied on cues to get around.
Wilkinson's colleagues at the University of Vienna gave the tortoises treats when the reptiles looked at, approached and then pecked on the screen.
The four red-footed tortoises in the study learned how to use touch screens fairly quickly, Wilkinson said.
"It's comparable to the speed with which the pigeons and rats do it," Wilkinson told Live Science. "I've trained dogs to use a touch screen and I'd say the tortoises are faster."
No, you must be mistaken. "Rested" is just a myth, like the Loch Ness Monster or North Dakota. If you feel rested, that's just your body telling you that you're lazy and you must immediately work on something--anything--until you no longer feel that way. If necessary, invent a chore for yourself.
-via Tastefully Offensive
There's no shame is missing this year's San Diego Comic-Con because it had serious competition: Sesame Street conducted its first Numeric Con. All the Muppets and humans came together to share their love of numbers and cosplay as their favorite characters. The Fourth Doctor, Batman, Princess Leia, Beast, Wolverine, Captain Kirk, Princess Bubblegum, and Comic Book Guy all made appearances.
-via William Shatner
(Photo: Trina Merry)
Trina Merry is a master body painter. We've previously seen her build a motorcycle and a temple of painted human bodies. Her latest project similarly conceals the body, but this time camouflaged into the scenery of New York City.
Merry recently moved there from San Francisco. She wanted to get to know her new home, so she painted models into famous landmarks, such as the above photo of the Manhattan Bridge. Model Jessica Mellow wore a bikini bottom and shoes as Merry painted her for several hours. You can see more photos from the series here. Content warning: artistic nudity.
-via Lustik
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