You could travel into the past and see great events from history. Or you could peer into the far future, which is either a technological wonderland or a nightmarish dystopia.
But, to be practical, you're more likely to use the time machine as a free babysitter that is available whenever you need it.
There's one complication: although you'll be ready for bed at 10 PM, your child will think that it's just 7 o'clock.
This building is a museum in Meitan County, Guizhou, China. Can you guess the theme of the museum? Yes, it's tea! This is the National Tea Museum. Appropriately, the building is shaped like a teapot. It's 242 feet tall. If it was an actual teapot, it could hold approximately 749,253 gallons of tea. This museum is the largest teapot-shaped building in the world.
It's one of 18 strange buildings in China rounded up by The Guardian. The others include buildings shaped like an egg, a wheel, a ring, a cell phone, and a liquor bottle.
-via Marginal Revolution
If you need to use crutches to get around, you may find it difficult to carry anything in your hands. Instructables member Duncan Belew created this partial solution: a cup holder that bolts onto the side of a crutch. It's made of two concentric rings. The inner one swivels, so as the user swings the crutch forward and backward, the cup will stay level.
(Photo: Cameron Spencer)
This is Tamarama Beach in Sydney, Australia, where it must be hot enough to fry an egg on the sand--if you have the right equipment. Andrew Hankin has provided it by building this enormous sculpture that looks like a frying pan lodged in the sand. It's his contribution to the Sculpture by the Sea program. Hankin calls it We're Fryin' Out Here. You can see more photos of sculptures in the exhibit here (warning: auto-start video).
-via Amusing Planet
Although it looks like thinly sliced bacon ready to slide into your skillet, this is actually a silk scarf designed by Natalie Luder. She calls it Fou Lard, which means "insane bacon." It's about 6 feet long and 1 foot wide. Luder composed this story about its origin:
About 1500 years ago a Chinese silkworm found his way to France to produce silk in Europe. In the country of the « bon vivants » it accidently landed in a butcher’s shop on top of a slice of bacon. Hmm, so soft and tasty, thought the vegetarien with surprise and with verve started to build a cocoon.
As the cocoon grew more and more the butcher’s wife, a sophisticated lady, catched an eye on it. Is this bacon going insane, she thought but shortly after she spotted the little worm who found itself in a new paradise. I will make the most beautiful scarf from your silk, she promised and kept feeding the silkworm with the best bits of bacon she could find. After three month she was wearing proudly the most shiny silk scarf that she would call with affection my „foulard“.
-via Nag on the Lake
Photographer Bertrand Kulik snapped this fantastic shot. There was a hole in the leaf where the spider built his web. From the right angle, it looks like the spider patched up the hole. You can see a close-up shot here.
-via Colossal
(Photo: jessyfastfinger)
(Photo: unknown)
(Photo: unknown)
Alex once told me to change the sign in front of the Neatorama factory. "What should I write?" "Anything is fine."
It was the last time that Alex sent me out to change the sign.
What can you do with a business sign? 22 Words has a roundup of 30 funny signs that businesses put out front to attract or scare away customers.
Ugg boots may be popular among the living this time of year, but the typical ghost wouldn't be caught dead in them. Sure, you can just wear a sheet, but only if you're going with the relaxed fit look. And that's not always appropriate.
I like the cargo style because the pockets are practical. Most ghosts, though, seem to wear it ironically.
-via Tastefully Offensive
10 days ago, Twitter user ryooneokrock1 sent out this image of his pet rabbit serving as a smartphone case. That triggered a wave of similar images across Japan and China. Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku has a roundup of some of the cutest photos in the meme. He denies that the rabbits' ears improve the signal strength, but that claim should be subjected to empirical testing.
From left to right, you can see MRSA, influenza, chicken pox, e. coli, and HIV.
Go ahead and take a lick! They're perfectly safe. Artist Wei Li made these popsicles just look like deadly pathogens. They're part of a project that he calls Dangerous Popsicles. Li explains that he wants to create a confusing sensory experience:
Before tasting with your tongue, you first taste with your eyes and mind. The popsicles are nothing but water and sugar, but ideas of deadly viruses and the spikiness of cacti are enough to stimulate your senses, even before your first taste.
He used a 3D printer to build models, which he then used to create popsicle molds.
In addition to the microorganisms, Li also created several cacti. They might not kill you, but you should check for spines before eating.
-via David Thompson
With a measure of alarm that I do not think was undue, I asked my wife, "Is there baby poop on my face?" At that time, there was not. But it would happen. As Bane said, "that comes later." And it did.
Getting baby poop on your face is part of parenting. And there will be other, similar experiences. That is parenting--real parenting, not the kind depicted in idealized stock photos.
The Tumblr blog It's Like They Know Us is filled with images of happy, cooperative children and their cheerful, well-rested parents. Contributors have added sarcastic captions that reflect their own experiences.
I picked out my Halloween costume. I’m going as “Slutty Madeleine Albright.”
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) October 23, 2014Conan O'Brien is a comedian and late night talk show host. Madeleine Albright was the U.S. Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001.
At the age of 77, Albright is not known for stunning good looks. But, then again, neither is O'Brien. Nonetheless, O'Brien decided to make fun of Albright's appearance in a recent Tweet.
.@ConanOBrien I'm considering going as hunky Conan O'Brien - but that might be too far fetched.
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) October 23, 2014Albright responded and clearly bested him in the verbal duel.
.@ConanOBrien Never get into a word war with a diplomat. We talk even more than comedians.
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) October 23, 2014-via Popehat
What's going on in the scenes depicted in famous musical album covers? To show you, the web design company Aptitude zoomed out to show a bit of background. Justin Bieber's fans have finally caught up with him, Spencer Elden is about to get eaten by a shark, and Abbey Road is revealed to be in in New Mexico.
You can view 5 more at Aptitude, including albums by Michael Jackson, Adele, and Bruce Springsteen.
-via Khool
In June, we showed you some of the amazing sculptures that Ben Young, an artist in New Zealand, makes by carefully cutting and layering sheets of glass. His medium is an especially effective way of conveying the texture and movement of water. Some of his recent work, such as this sculpture of a lighthouse, illustrates Young's skill.
Young calls this piece "Lonesome Light." The waves of glass appear to pound the lighthouse, which juts above the sea on a mound of rock that appears both solid and fragile in the raging storm.