MobiSante has developed an ultrasound scanning device that can be operated from a smartphone. So instead of simply showing your co-workers printouts of your gestating baby, you can give them a live image!

Well, maybe not. It does cost $7,495. Just put it on your wish list for now.

Link -via OhGizmo!

Don't rebuke your children for marking up the walls! They're following in a rich tradition that spans human history. Archaeologist Jessica Cooney has determined that finger marks left in the soft stone of a certain French cave complex were made by children. She can tell because the marks are so small that they could have only been inscribed by young kids. In fact, she's able to trace markings to individual children, which can be identified by age and gender:

The researchers suspect that eight to 10 people, including four kids aged 7 or younger, were behind the ancient finger flutings. Children left marks in every chamber. One of them was apparently just 2 or 3 years old and may have been helped by a grown-up. "The most prolific of the children who made flutings was aged around 5 — and we are almost certain the child in question was a girl," Cooney said.

Cooney said that child's markings appear on cave ceilings more than 6 feet (2 meters) high, which would suggest that she was held up or put on someone's shoulders to make the marks. One chamber was so marked up by children that it may have served as a "playpen of sorts," she said.

Video at the link.

Link -via Glenn Reynolds | Image: Cambridge University

Amber Miller wasn't one to let mere full-term pregnancy (well, 39 weeks) get in the way of completing her eighth marathon:

When the baby hadn't been born by Sunday, she got clearance from her doctor to run half. She completed it with a with a half-run half-walk approach, drinking lots of fluids and eating a lot along the way. She finished in 6.25.50, much slower than her usual marathon time, but still content. [...]

She felt her first contractions within minutes of finishing the race and gave birth to a healthy baby boy a few hours later. Although running all the way to labor is rare, champion marathon runners have trained aggressively during their pregnancies:

Marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe ran 22km a day while pregnant and resumed training weeks after the birth of her first child. She won the New York City Marathon in 2007 just 10 months after delivery. American marathoner Kara Goucher, who gave birth to her son last year, also trained while pregnant, running 130km a week at times.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-photo-finish-woman-gives-birth-after-runni-001,0,6661609.photo -via Stuff | Photo: Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune

Our first child was born at a teaching hospital, so my wife and I have a sense of what this is like. I eventually just told the medical students to leave. But Marni Kotak, an artist in Brooklyn, doesn't have a problem with strangers seeing her bring her child into the world. Her birthing will take place in an art gallery as part of an exhibition:

The month-long exhibition is set around her due date, although according to her own words she feels it might happen on the opening night. The gallery will run on extended hours from 11am to 6pm, and Marni will spend some time there every day. She lives just around the corner, so even if it comes in the middle of the night, she can easily come.

Visit the link to see pictures of the birthing room that Kotak has set up at the Microscope Gallery.

Link -via The Mary Sue | Gallery Website | Photo: Bushwick Daily

Kids who are staying at Seattle Children's Hospital are finding messages written to them in huge letters when they look outside their windows. Ironworkers assembling the frame of a new building outside the hospital have been spray painting greetings to the kids on steel beams:

And sure enough, there on a reddish-brown beam was a message an ironworker spray-painted only a few days ago. Its big bold letters said simply, "HI JULIAN."

A couple of rooms away, Zac Graling, a 16-year-old being treated for leukemia, looked out at another beam bearing the message, "HI ZAC." [...]

The new building's skeleton is alive with greetings to Kitty, Colby, Kyle and Istvan. To Violet, Seth, Josh and Austin. To Rachel, Adam, Gillie-Jane and Christofer.

"Each day we do another one — at least one," said Tim Hettich, a superintendent with subcontractor The Erection Co., made up of Ironworkers Local 86.

Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: Alan Berner, Seattle Times

(Video Link)

The 18-month old daughter of YouTube user grizzdais knows actor Brad Pitt on sight! And he is totally cute and the object of her affections. Does George Kennedy get this kind of fan adoration? No, although I flabbergasted as to why.

-via The Uniblog

Tatiana and Krista Hogan are a pair of conjoined twins joined at the head. Because their brains are linked together, they may share a mind, according to some scientists. They certainly share some sensory information: Tatiana can see through Krista's eyes and Krista can see through one of Tatiana's eyes. But beyond being the source of scientific fascination, they're also little girls who are growing up. And they just started kindergarten:

“They love school,” says grandmother Louise McKay. The staff at the school have gone out of their way to make the girls comfortable, including setting aside a quiet room if they need a break and retrofitting a special toilet, she says. “They have a really nice team behind them, they’re helping us out trying to figure out ways of accommodating Tati and Krista so they’re comfortable at school.”

The girls have certainly caused a stir. One girl, especially, followed them around the first few hours, clearly curious. They quickly formed a friendship. “Every morning she waits for Tati and Krista to get there, and takes them over to play finger puppets,” says McKay. “They’re laughing and giggling."

Link -via Marginal Revolution | Photo: Brian Howell

Don't be too proud of this obstetrical terror you've constructed. The Pregonaut knew exactly what to do with her extended belly last Halloween. And yes, it does fire a beam of destruction. Click on the link to see it in action.

Link -via The Mary Sue | Mother's Blog

Life magazine looked back through its archives for weird inventions, including this baby soother. It's shaped like a human breast and vibrates to the rhythm of the human heart on the assumption that the form and cadence are familiar and comfortable to babies. Jokes aside, this actually sounds like a plausible hypothesis -- or at least enough to generate sales. I've got two young children, and I tell you, some parents will buy anything.

Link -via Gizmodo

Some couples celebrate their pregnancy with a professional photo shoot. Most are sweet and tender, but Nicole decided that she wanted a science fiction theme for her set. The results, taken by photographer Nuby DeLeon, are hilarious. The baby, a daughter named Taylor, has since been born. To the best of our knowledge, she is fully human.

Link | Photographer's Website

When I was a little boy, I asked my mother what hair was made of. She tried to explain it to me in a way that would make sense to a six year-old, but remain scientifically accurate. Hair, she said, is made out of protein. I asked "What's protein?" This proved to be an even more difficult topic, but she did say, at some point, that peanut butter was rich in protein. So, as I understood it, hair is made out of peanut butter. I responded by making a hair and jelly sandwich.

It was awful.

But that's what happens when kids try to understand the adult world around them. An artist named Pierrette Diaz composed a set of paintings that works with that theme, visualizing what kids misunderstand.

Link -via The Mary Sue

Author John C. Vanden-Heuvel Sr. has a good point when he writes, "It's never too early to be standards compliant!" Turn your kids into code monkeys before they're even potty trained with this board book written by a web designer for his child.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615487661/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=blaitonthevoi-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0615487661&adid=16EZNETA4R2TXRDH1ZMW -via Blame It on the Voices

(Video Link)

Would you like to be Fred Rogers's neighbor? I sure would. And watching him sing his invitation at the beginning of every episode reminds me why.

I grew up with Mister Rogers. There was something magical about him back then, and I still feel it to this day.

-via Kottke

Angie Naron spotted this adorable pair of pumpkin carvings in Chicago in 2009. They're simply perfect.

Link -via Craft | Previously: Bert and Ernie Fruit Craft

Sequoia National Park is a lovely spot that is strikingly similar to Endor, the moon on which the Ewoks of Star Wars live. Anthony Herrera's kids love Star Wars, so he photoshopped Ewoks into the background of their photos from a trip to that national park:

After we got home, and after I had a little time alone with the photos, I told her I thought I saw something strange in a few pictures. We viewed them on the TV to get a larger image. You can imagine how surprised and excited she was when we discovered that we didn't see any Ewoks, but they saw us, and had certainly taken an interest in her and her little brother.

Awww. Ewoks are so cute! And even cuter when they pay close attention to children, right?

No. Remember: Ewoks eat people. In Episode VI, they tried to roast Leia, Han, and Luke. You may look at them as teddy bears, but they look at you as dinner.

Link -via The Mary Sue