(Photo: AP/J. Pat Carter)
Chanel Beckenlehner of Caledon, Ontario represented Canada at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami yesterday. She wore a fantastic costume that displays her homeland’s love for hockey. In the place of a tiara, Beckenlehner wore a model of the Stanley Cup and a hockey goal net. Her boots resemble lace-up skates and her wings consist of fans of hockey sticks. And, yes, that scoreboard is part of her dress.
-via Anne Thériault
(Photo: Dick Mulder)
In 2011, a 4-foot long four-lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata) swallowed a smaller whip snake (Platyceps najadum) on the Greek island of Corfu. A pet cat then killed the four-lined snake.
Dick Mulder, a Dutchman who lives on the island, snapped photos of the incredible scene that followed. He described it to National Geographic:
"My wife, who didn't like the idea of a dead snake on her veranda, screeched that the snake wasn't dead—she saw it moving," he said in an email. "I reassured her that it was really dead," Mulder recalled—until he took a closer look.
"I went to grab my camera, and by the time I came back I saw the head of a small snake," he said.
The whip snake then fled into the wild. That's one tough little snake!
Guinness World Records says that at 1 foot, 11.28 inches long, this Pleurotus eryngii is the longest edible mushroom in the world. Mad scientists at the Mushroom Research Laboratory of the Hokuto Corporation in Nagano, Japan grew it. It’ll fill up a lot of pizzas, provided that it doesn’t achieve sentience and kill us all first.
(Image: Medici Tigurini Historiae Animalium by Conrad Gesner)
The illustrious Dr. John Pechey was a member of the College of Physicians in London. His book A Plain Introduction to the Art of Physick explains how to treat colic effectively. As you might expect, you’ll need a duck:
If you apply a living Duck, the Feathers being pulled off behind, to the Stomach, it will ease the Pain of Cholick.
So, logically, if she weighs as much as a duck . . . .
-via Ask the Past
Everyone is judging you—and harshly—about everything you say and do. Did they notice that you mispronounced a word? They did, they did! It’s terrible, as Shea Strauss illustrates at College Humor. You can read the rest of her cartoons about social anxiety here.
-via reddit
Your face is covered with cookie crumbs, but don’t brush them off! They could be the basis of some rad mascara. At the age of 16, Katherine Ward is already a skilled makeup artist who improvises with materials at hand. To make mascara from Oreo cookies, she first removed the filling, crushed the cookie ends into a fine powder, then mixed in water and a facial primer. Do that and you’ll be ready to look sharp. Downside: you have fewer cookies to eat.
-via Craft
(Photo: James Patterson)
Novelist James Patterson has a new book coming out called Private Vegas. It’s an explosive story—literally. He’s selling one special copy of his latest thriller for £194,000 ($294,038 USD) that has a built-in time bomb. The fan who acquires this special copy will have a private dinner with Patterson at an undisclosed location before being presented with the book. S/he has 24 hours to read it before it detonates. The Daily Telegraph reports:
A special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team will also be on hand to handle the explosive thriller. […]
"Twenty four hours after you start it, the book will no longer be there," said Patterson, 67. "I hope this spurs more ways to get attention."
He added: "This seemed like a terrific way to draw attention to a book in a way that has never been done before," he explained. "In the history of publishing there hasn't been anything like this."
Do you use The Facebook? You should. It’s 1995, so it’s time that you get logged into the future. The Facebook is the best way to communicate with other people, share images, and arrange events. Add you need is a computer, a modem, and a phone line. The Facebook will send you a disk so that you can load The Facebook onto your computer for 10 hours—for free! Comedian Brent Weinbach tells us all about it in this commercial.
-via 22 Words
When super agent Sterling Archer of the hit cartoon Archer needs backup, he calls on TV talk show host Conan O’Brien. Or Conan happened to be handy—but it’s one of the two.
Archer was supposed to be a guest on Conan’s show, but he got delayed by the perennial excuse of every guest: people were chasing and shooting at him. The results were hilarious!
-via Geek Tyrant
(Photo: J. Todd Poling)
What evolutionary advantage do stripes offer zebras? For a long time, scientists thought that the stripes served as a form of camouflage. Then scientists reasoned that the stripes help protect zebras from blood-sucking flies. Now researchers have published a different hypothesis in Royal Society Open Science. They think that the stripes help the zebras keep cool. Skunk Bear, NPR's science Tumblr blog, explains:
Zebras in hotter regions have more defined stripes. Here’s a bit of logic that might explain the phenomenon: dark stripes heat up faster, white stripes heat up slower —> that creates areas of different temperature —> that creates little convection currents (remember how wind happens?) —> that helps the animals cool.
Good news, everyone! You can look like these handsome fellows, thanks to Etsy seller Schuyler Ellers. His exclusive Lord von Schmitt line includes these colorful crocheted shorts which give you the dangerous, rakish look that so many women find attractive. They're form fitting, too, so you can show off all of your curves--and you know that you want to. So slip on a pair and go get 'em, Tiger.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
I like a good pun.
Professor Theodosius O’Bliviate (or as he calls himself online) is a 15-year old crafter and prop maker. He made the Knightlight from an old novelty radio and 12 volt lights. He covered up the controls with pieces of a harmonica.
Earlier this month, fire ravaged about 48 square miles of land in Adelaide Hills, South Australia. While residents fled, firefighters rushed in to contain, then extinguish the fire. Volunteer firefighter Ben Wilson was one of those brave men and women. He wore a GoPro camera on his helmet during part of his time there. This footage shows what it’s like to ride into a blaze and snuff it out.
Content warning: some foul language.
-via Glenn Reynolds
(Photos: Galileo Museum)
Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) was a Jesuit scholar and polymath who was celebrated in his lifetime as one of the greatest geniuses of his age. He published on optics, magnetism, linguistics, hydraulics, and Egyptology, among many other subjects.
Here are photos of the organum mathematicum, one of his inventions. This one is owned by the Galileo Museum in Florence. It’s a combination of an encyclopedia and a calculator. The museum describes how it works:
The inside of the chest is divided into nine compartments, one for each of the following subjects: Arithmetic, Geometry, Art of fortifications, Chronology, Horography, Astronomy, Astrology, Steganography, and Music. Each compartment contains twenty-four small rods ending in a colored triangular tip. On each of the nine series of twenty-four small rods are inscribed definitions and information on the corresponding subject. At least one rod in each of the nine compartments has a black tip and constitutes the application table, which gives the rule for proper use. To multiply 74 x 8, for example, one removes the black-tipped rod from the Arithmetic compartment and places it next to the rods carrying the numbers 7 and 4 at the top. The eighth line on the black-tipped rod gives the desired product.
(Image: Mr. Porter)
I’ll assume that you’re reading this post on a smartphone and you’re in a hurry. Your time is valuable—so very valuable—at this particular moment. That’s why it should be used by only an elite stuntman who knows what he’s talking about. Adam Kirley is such a stuntman. He was a body double for James Bond actor Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. You can see him in that movie fighting on a crane and crashing an Aston Martin.
Now is not the time to get distracted, so please stay focused. Carefully read and follow Kirley’s instructions here. Once you jump, remember to distribute your body weight as broadly as possible:
You need to exit with your back facing the direction you’re travelling. Jump out with your right shoulder (remember, we’re on the left-hand side of the car) closest to the ground, and roll over your left shoulder. Once you hit the ground, the longer the time you can spend rolling over the biggest possible area of your body, the better: the key thing is to disperse the energy over time and surface area. Once you’re spinning and rolling, there’ll be a lot of centrifugal force so keep your body tense, prevent your limbs from flailing about, and go with the roll.
-via TYWKIWDBI
