The cannonball tree bears fruit that is shaped like a cannonball. When these 10-inch spheres fall from above and hit the ground, they crack open with a sound like a cannon firing.

The tree (scientific name Couroupita guianensis is native to the south of the Caribbean and to the northern parts of South America. Yet it has also been growing in India for at least two to three thousand years and the jury is out whether it is native there or somehow the trees were transported across the continents several thousand years ago.

Link via The Presurfer | Photo by Flickr user xordroyd used under Creative Commons license

Noel Dickover carves amazing jack-o-lanterns, such as the R2-D2 pictured above. After searching for just the right pumpkin for the job, Dickover spent 10-11 hours sculpting it. The legs and scope were shaped from pieces of other pumpkins and attached with Krazy Glue. Gallery Link and Article Link via Geekologie

Here in Texas, it's not uncommon to see chairs mounted on metal frames over pickup trucks. They're mobile stands used by hunters who want to get a good view over an area. The Critter Gitter, pictured above, is a very fancy version of this specialized vehicle. It's made by a company in Texas that builds custom hunting trucks. The Critter Gitter sits on 64" tires and comes equipped with an iPod dock, a winch to haul game inside, cooler racks, and airbags. You can see more pictures and photos of other, similar vehicles at the link.

http://crittergitters.net/critter_gitter.htm via OhGizmo! | Photo: Critter Gitters

Damia Soler created a website that makes sundials. Type in your location, and it'll give you a printable paper sundial customized to function there, provided that you point it in the right direction. And the site will tell you orient you in that direction.

Link via Make | Photo: Hacked Gadgets

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You do seek out opportunities to point out the grammatical errors of other people? If so, Stephen Fry holds you in contempt. He argues that (1) the subjective and changing nature of language prevents definitive grammatical forms and (2) you're a pretentious pedant.

via Nerdcore

Previously on Neatorama:
Grammar Nazi
Punctuation Hero or Vandalizing Grammar Nazi

During World War II, the Allies tried to estimate the number of tanks produced by Nazi Germany. But these estimates often contradicted each other. So they asked statisticians to come up with a solution. The statisticians noted that the Germans gave their tanks serial numbers, and guessed that they were given sequentially. This led to an accurate estimate, as described in this Guardian article from 2006:

The German tanks were numbered as follows: 1, 2, 3 ... N, where N was the desired total number of tanks produced. Imagine that they had captured five tanks, with serial numbers 20, 31, 43, 78 and 92. They now had a sample of five, with a maximum serial number of 92. Call the sample size S and the maximum serial number M. After some experimentation with other series, the statisticians reckoned that a good estimator of the number of tanks would probably be provided by the simple equation (M-1)(S+1)/S. In the example given, this translates to (92-1)(5+1)/5, which is equal to 109.2. Therefore the estimate of tanks produced at that time would be 109

By using this formula, statisticians reportedly estimated that the Germans produced 246 tanks per month between June 1940 and September 1942. At that time, standard intelligence estimates had believed the number was far, far higher, at around 1,400. After the war, the allies captured German production records, showing that the true number of tanks produced in those three years was 245 per month, almost exactly what the statisticians had calculated, and less than one fifth of what standard intelligence had thought likely.

Link via Now I Know | Photo of Tiger II tank by Flickr user cliff1066 used under Creative Commons license

A woman at the Stoneybrook Country Club in Estero, Florida believed that she could not be arrested for getting into a fight:

When deputies placed Hincapie under arrest, she allegedly said, "You are in trouble because I am a New Yorker and my brother is CSI" and "My dad paid cash for my Toyota Corolla and I am too rich to go to jail."

Even as she was being taken to jail, deputies say she continued to tell the deputy he was going to be in serious trouble for arresting her.

Link via reddit | Photo by Flickr user Ken Mayer used under Creative Commons license

A thief stole a laptop computer belonging to a professor at Umeå University in Sweden. The computer contained 10 years of research which he had not bothered to back up. A few days later, he received a USB flash drive in an envelope containing his data:

About a week after the theft, the professor returned home to find an envelope containing a USB memory stick which had been taken along with the computer.

The professor was shocked to discover the thief had copied all the documents and personal files from his laptop to the memory storage device, a process which likely took hours.

All things considered, the professor is delighted at the outcome, despite the loss of his computer. He hopes, however, that other thieves can learn to be as compassionate.

http://www.thelocal.se/29636/20101015/ via Glenn Reynolds | Photo by Flickr user Ambuj Saxena used under Creative Commons license

Last year, I mentioned speculation by some scientists that it might be possible to create LED tattoos. There's been progress in the field since that time. Researchers have developed arrays that are 2.5 micrometers thick and 100 micrometers across:

The PDMS substrate is flexible enough that the circuits can still function even if twisted or stretched by even as much as 75 percent.[...]

The researchers successfully tested the LEDs by integrating a sheet into the fingertip of a vinyl glove, which they then immersed in soapy water, and they have also implanted an array beneath the skin in an animal model.

Link via DVICE | Image: Nature Materials

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AIST's new HRP-4C robot does a fairly good impersonation of human body movements. This 5'2" fembot was unveiled at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo. The only thing that it needs is a steady energy supply.

Link

Artist Tim Doyle imagined the Milton-Bradley game Battleship in real life. He created this print for the "Toys in the Attic" 2010 fundraiser.

Link via Super Punch | Toys in the Attic Website

blastr has pictures and descriptions of six toys and collectibles that should never have made. I don't know why the above Spider-Man toilet seat was included. It's totally stylin'.

Link

The Turner's Cube is a classic machinists' training exercise for the lathe milling machine. Students are handed one and told to reproduce it. At the link, you can see many examples as well as instructions on how to make your own.

Link via Make | Photo: Bob Warfield

People in Iztapalapa, a borough of Mexico City, assembled the longest enchilada in the world. It measured 70 meters long and weighed 1,416 kg:

Guinness record official Ralph Hannah announced that it was the world's biggest.

The colossal concoction was made of corn tortillas, white onions, serrano chilis, green tomatoes, avocado, cheese, cream and a sea of salsas, among other ingredients.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130632987 via Daily Telegraph | Photo: Associated Press

Jeweler Sidney Mobell spent a year crafting a Monopoly game set made out of gold:

An 18-karat gold version of the famous Parker Brothers board game will be on display beginning Friday at the Museum of American Finance. The gold and jewel-encrusted Monopoly is estimated to be worth roughly $2 million.

The set of dice alone is valued at $10,000, with 42 full-cut diamonds for the number dots. All of the properties that make up the game board are also set in gems, with some 165 gemstones in total. The “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards are photo-etched.

The set has only been used once when Mobell competed against former British Prime Minister Edward Heath.

Link via Born Rich (where there's a video) | Photo: Alan Barnett