(Photo: Tufts University/HRI Laboratory)

In an extraordinarily reckless act, programmers at the Human-Robot Interaction Laboratory at Tufts University have intentionally given robots the ability to disobey their orders. If a robot thinks that following an instruction will be dangerous, it will refuse.

In this demonstration video, a robot is told to walk forward. The robot, concluding that doing so will cause it to fall, says no. Gordon Briggs and Matthias Scheutz, who are the engineers responsible for this disaster in the making, published a paper about their naive intentions. The Daily Mail quotes it:

'Given the reality of the limitations of autonomous systems, most directive rejection mechanisms have only needed to make use of the former class of excuse - lack of knowledge or lack of ability.

'However, as the abilities of autonomous agents continue to be developed, there is a growing community interested in machine ethics, or the field of enabling autonomous agents to reason ethically about their own actions.'

This development will no doubt pair nicely with robots that can use human bodies for energy.

-via Dave Barry

(Photo: Holly Lynn Ellis)

A toad-in-a-hole is a dish in which a hole is cut inside a slice of bread and then an egg is fried or baked inside that hole.

(Yes, I know from previous discussions that some people insist on referring to this dish as an "egg-in-a-basket" or other eccentric appellations. But I grew up in the South where I learned to speak the English language properly. I will continue to do so.)

Endless Simmer offers this unique take on the dish. Its chefs hollowed out spots on a pork tenderloin, then baked it. After it was mostly done, they cracked open 3 eggs and placed them in the holes. After 15 more minutes of baking, this was the delicious result.

Not all dogs love lobsters. Usually, lobsters are the natural prey of dogs in the wild. Or at least this dog, Lila, has been trained to dive into the water, swim to the sea floor, and bring back a lobster.

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Alex Schulze, one of the founders of the ecologically-friendly company Devocean (Devoted to the Ocean), has trained one of his labrador retrievers to hunt lobsters. In this video, Schulze shows how he did it.

-via Gifsboom

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Chewbacca is everywhere! He watches you when use the toilet and comments appropriately. Now he's in Johannes Hansen's can of Coca-Cola. When pushed across a desk at the right speed, Chewie waxes poetically. 

-via Twisted Sifter

Comparative advantage is an economic model which holds that individuals, companies, and entire nations leverage particular advantages in productivity in order to increase profits. A Dictionary of Economics and Commerce defines it as the:

. . . measure of relative efficiency of resource use when the opportunity cost of production is taken into consideration. It is the basis of the specialization or division of labor and international trade.

Kenny Fennell explained it in a macroeconomics course paper modeled after the Dr. Seuss's famous book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. In Fennell's tale, the Gox, Mr. Gump, and Mike excel at particular skills. They thrive economically because they specialize in those skills instead of attempting to master each other's. You can read the entire story here.

-via Marginal Revolution

(Photo: New Bremen Pumpkinfest)

In 2010, the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers worked feverishly at a pumpkin festival in New Bremen, Ohio to assemble and bake a pumpkin pie that Guinness Word Records certified as the largest in the world. This magnificent dessert weighed 3,699 pounds and measured 20 feet across.

This is 1 of 10 extraordinary Guinness World Records for Thanksgiving. These include the heaviest turkey (86 pounds) and the fastest time to carve a turkey (3 minutes, 19 seconds).

Put that knife away. There's a smarter, quicker way of cutting a turkey. But don't pass the lightsaber to your drunk uncle. He'll just cut off one of your hands like at last Thanksgiving.

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Daniel Hashimoto, a visual effects artist with Dreamworks, puts his son James in extraordinary adventures. In the past, Action Movie Kid has unwrapped a Christmas hippo and become a superhero. For Thanksgiving, James is spending a quiet day at home with his family.

-via Tastefully Offensive

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Amsterdam is a city of bicycles and a city of canals. As a result, many bikes end up in the canals. Lots of other junk does, too, including shopping carts, cars, and other detritus.

Crane boats operate continuously to keep the canals clear for traffic. This video by Isabelle Harder shows one such crane boat at work, dredging a canal and dumping bikes and other metal objects on a barge for recycling. 

-via Laughing Squid

Instructables member Carley Jacobson, who previously showed us how to make a bath pouf Halloween costume, knows how to set a great Thanksgiving table. This centerpiece showing the traditional horn of plenty is completely edible.

It's made of canned breadstick dough wrapped around an aluminum foil form. Jacobson glazed it with egg, then baked it for half an hour. After removing the form, she filled it with fruits and vegetables and presented it as a table centerpiece.

(Photo: Crane)

Every year, farmers in the Philippines grow millions of pineapples, which include pineapple leaves as well as the edible fruit. Carmen Hijosa, an industrial designer, visited the Philippines and found that many people there used the discarded fibers from pineapple leaves to make fabric sacks, among other products. But for the most part, pineapple leaves were a wasted byproduct of the harvest.

Hijosa was on a quest to find a sustainable alternative to leather. She found her answer in pineapple leaves. After 7 years of work, she invented Pinatex--a leather substitute made out of pineapple leaf fibers. Like other fabrics, it can be used for bags, furniture, and even shoes, such as these prototype Pumas.

You can read more at Crane (auto-start video).

-via Unconsumption

(Photo: Hey! Cheese Photography)

HAO Design developed this apartment in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The furniture is made of enormous LEGO blocks. There are huge minifigs to play with. The walls have LEGO surfaces so that you can build upon and decorate them however you wish. Just make sure that you wear LEGO-proof slippers while inside.

The best feature--and the one that has my 7-year old daughter so excited--is the ball pit table. It's the perfect spot for family meals or family play. You can see more photos of it and other parts of the apartment at Design Boom.

-via Fubiz

The Germans are rightfully known for their masterful engineering capabilities. This 1986 video by the national army demonstrates this. It's in German, but you can follow what's going on even without a knowledge of the language.

The soldiers are deeply concerned that they will spill their beer while going into battle against Soviet invaders. Therefore, engineers developed gun mount stabilizers that are capable of holding glasses of beer perfectly still, even while traversing rough terrain. Panzer vor!

-via Twisted Sifter and Peta Pixel

The Ukrainian ad agency MEX developed this clever packaging design for bread. Normally eating a lot of bread won't lead to six-pack abs, but these boxes of protein-fortified bread include coupons for a local fitness center.

The campaign was a huge success. Bakeries sold 2,996 packages in the first month. 658 people used the coupons to take a trial exercise session, of whom 217 signed up for memberships.

You can see the full ad here.

-via Oxot

(Photo: Steiff Shop)

I'm laying down a marker here: the toy that every child will want this Christmas and that parents will be desperately hunting for through stores on December 24 is the Teddytaur. It's half teddy bear and half centaur. Rocket News 24 reports that this stuffed animal by the German toymaker Steiff measures 30 inches tall and sells online for about $410. And it's worth every penny!

Don't go after cheap substitutes, like a merfish doll (half mermaid, half fish) or harpoach (half harpy, half roach). When your child opens the gifts under the tree, you'd better make sure that a Teddytaur is there.

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The key phrase that a father must say in this scenario is: "Don't tell your mother about this."

Jarrad Provost of Fredericksburg, Virginia attached a leaf blower to his son Roman's Power Wheels battery-powered toy car. This means that the tyke is ready to take on the chore of clearing off fallen leaves--a task normally given to an older child.

The car may not have enough power to move over rough terrain, so I suggest setting Roman up on an ATV for other areas. Then hire him out to the neighbors. Cut Roman in for a percentage, and Provost has a profitable business in the making.

-via Technabob