Rumors on the internet* hold that Gene Roddenberry once owned a 3-foot long detailed model of the Enterprise (NCC-1701, no bloody A, B, C, or D). This beautiful work was stolen from Roddenberry's home during the 1970s. It recently surfaced on eBay with a minimum bid of $1,000.

The seller has pulled the listing from eBay and reached out to Rod Roddenberry, a son of Gene Roddenberry and director of his intellectual properties.

The model bears the mark of Richard C. Datin, Jr., the model builder for the Original Series. This model would have been used in the filming of the show.

*Note this well: I have not found any careful reporting on the subject.

Last year, redditor /u/Commander_Peanuts carved this monstrous jack-o'-lantern that doesn't light up, but also doesn't need to. I can't seriously believe that anyone would consider venturing into the Underdark where a beholder, such as this one, lives, without coming prepared with naturally or magically granted darkvision. And when the beholder's antimagic abilities cancel out your magical darkvision, be grateful. You don't want to see what's coming next.

-via Randy Angle

Dianna Cowern became famous on the internet as The Physics Girl. Her YouTube channel is filled with entertaining and informative videos about science, which is fitting for a physics graduate from MIT and a past winner of the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

About a year ago, Cowern came down with a brutal case of COVID that has turned into Long COVID. She's been bedbound since January, but that hasn't stopped her heroic husband Kyle from making her a costume. Cowern is the Wicked Witch of the East from the original The Wizard of Oz, whom Dorothy brutally murdered and then robbed upon her arrival in Oz.

The Orlando Sentinel reports on the forthcoming inaugural Florida Man Games, named after the outrageous behavior of the male inhabitants of America's most insane state. Pete Melfi of Saint Augustine is organizing an open sporting event in which Florida men will be able to compete in original games inspired by the actual shenanigans of Floridians.

Pictured above is concept art of one of the games: the Evading Arrest Obstacle Course. The goal is to flee from actual police officers over fences and through backyards. Other games include grabbing cash while in a chamber with Category 5 hurricane winds, a motorcycle race with stolen catalytic converts strapped to the bikes, and "Florida Ma'am Pinup", a "beauty" contest for Florida women.

If you're a Neatorama reader from Florida, please consider entering and telling us about your experience. Don't worry about your fitness to complete. The rules say that "being athletic is not required at all."

-via Dave Barry | Image: Florida Man Games

Chinese YouTuber Aboringday builds new weird devices and adds weird modifications on common devices. In his most recent video, he made usually functional yo-yos from objects not commonly associated with the wood or plastic toys. These include fan blades, circular saw blades, ping pong paddles, and clocks.

Some yo-yo bases were easier to make or use than others. Dumbbell plates, for example, were easy to modify but also very heavy. But by far the most challenging project was making a yo-yo out of ice, which required multiple attempts at 3D design and printing before Aboringday got it right. In this process, Aboringday engages in amusing storytelling without ever saying a word.

-via The Awesomer

For some people with diabetes, it's essential to inject insulin to regulate their blood sugar. But insulin can be expensive, so scientists in Switzerland are searching for an alternative. In an article published in Diabetes & Endocrinology, these scientists describe how music can activate neurotransmitter production that releases insulin. Specifically, playing "We Will Rock You" by Queen released 70% of insulin within 5 minutes and complete release within 15 minutes.

The New York Post summarizes the work of the researchers. They discovered that common environmental sounds did very little to stimulate insulin release, classical music did a little bit, but Queen played at 85 decibels (that's about as loud as a food blender) kicked off a full insulin release.

-via Dave Barry

call me chef pic.twitter.com/lKBTQUJf50

— Pablo Rochat (@PabloRochat) October 19, 2023

Pablo Rochat is a conceptual artist, creative director, and internet personality who does the unexpected with everyday objects. Recently, that includes a lot of hot dogs.

Less imaginative people might carry hot dogs by hand downstairs and out the back door to place them on the grill. Rochat, though, linked together what appears to be many strips of a Hot Wheels toy car racing track to travel from his kitchen to his backyard, gradually building up momentum until the hot dog launches into the air and lands on the grill.

-via Born in Space

A 2,500-lb. pumpkin was dropped on a school bus in Lancaster, Minnesota, as part of a fundraiser for the local literacy council. 🎃🚌😲#ViralHog #giantpumpkin #schoolbus #Minnesota pic.twitter.com/mtJmGwNz6j

— ViralHog (@ViralHog) October 23, 2023

Charlie Bernstrom of Lancaster, Minnesota is a competitive pumpkin grower. For several years, he's grown some of the largest pumpkins in the world. On Saturday, a crane lifted his 2,501-pound pumpkin high into the air, then dropped it on a school bus. Fortunately, there were no children inside the bus at the time. The pumpkin, who was named Joy (yes, really), did not survive the encounter.

This pumpkin was only one of several that Bernstrom raised and then dropped. The others weighed 2,131, 2100, 1655, 1524, and 1352 pounds.

The event was part of a fundraiser to benefit the Kittson County Literary Council, an organization that promotes reading among kids. The fundraiser generated $1,500.

WHAT A MESS! Homes in Montana were buried under tumbleweed as some piles rose so high that they flowed over the roofs of homes. #mtwx pic.twitter.com/VhQ9U1hGOW

— FOX Weather (@foxweather) October 18, 2023

I've never seen one in real life, but I gather that tumbleweeds are predators that swarm their prey, overwhelming larger opponents through sheer numbers. I learned this from the 2008 documentary Killer Tumbleweeds.

This video shows one such swarm of tumbleweeds consuming houses in Great Falls, Montana on Tuesday. Or, to be more precise, attempting to hunt the humans inside those houses. Winds reaching speeds of up to 50 MPH aided the tumbleweeds as on their journey according to KRTV 3 News. Firefighters are looking into response options, but it really sounds like a job for the National Guard.

-via Super Punch

The Beer Marionette is a drinking game from Bavaria. This ingenious invention requires precise maneuvering, attention, and thirst. Each rig costs €169 ($178 USD) as well as the beer necessary to motivate the player. The company's Instagram page shows how hard it is for all but the most skilled puppeteers to successfully lift a glass to one's lips for a sip of German nectar.

-via No Context Humans

As Rick & Morty (NSFW) teaches us, squirrels are not just cute, furry little creatures, but a well-organized collective conspiring to maintain their domination of the human race.

They're smart, but sometimes they screw up. On reddit, a user with a username that I can't repeat in polite company found a building outside of New Braunfels, Texas that Google Maps identifies as "Secret Squirrel Facility." The campus includes several satellite dishes, which are presumably used for sicurian mind control projects.

Google Maps no longer reveals this label, so we can assume that the squirrels have quickly corrected this error. Their intrigues continue.

-via Dave Barry

The title of the YouTube channel 5-Minute Crafts implies that this is a craft that can be completed in just 5 minutes. I'm skeptical that this rather involved prop creation can be done that quickly, but perhaps it is possible with a lot of prep work, like on a cooking television show.

Would this be a good decoration for your upcoming home Halloween party? Yes, but I propose another use beyond confusing your intoxicated guests looking for relief. A terrifyingly monstrous mouth eating humans from the bottom up is exactly what a toddler needs for toilet training. This mouth toilet would make going potty all the more fun.

-via Technabob

I have an highly effective, reliable, and entirely organic snore detector. When I start snoring, the snore detector gently taps me on the chest and mutters, "You're snoring." This snore detector is so efficient that I married her.

Not everyone is as fortunate as I. YouTuber Naveen Kumar proposes a technological solution that makes use of artificial intelligence. The Nicla Voice sensor board detects the sound of snoring as determined by a snoring sound data set. Then it provides haptic feedback in the form of mild vibration to encourage the snoring user to reposition so as not not disturb other people in the classroom.

-via Hack A Day

Tom Scott, the famous world traveler who shows us amazing places around the world, is concerned about becoming "that weird elevator guy" because he has made many videos about unusual elevator designs. But his fans have insisted that he explore a particular elevator in Hanover, Germany. The shaft of this elevator is curved.

The town hall is unusual because it has a dome, which is not the norm in Germany. The elevator and the building were constructed in 1913, but I gather that the architectural plan did not call for an elevator. So the builders had to find a way to locate a shaft in a convenient place.

That meant the cupola, which has a curved shape at the top. The track bends and the elevator follows this track precisely, sometimes coming within 5 mm of the walls. 

Halloween is nearly upon us, so many people are carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns. Later, we'll make pumpkin pie. But in the heartland of America, people engage in a more daring seasonal pumpkin activity: boating.

Until yesterday, the Guinness World Record for paddling a pumpkin as a boat was 37.5 miles down the Missouri River in a pumpkin weighting 846 pounds. Steve Kueny of Lebanon, Missouri has broken that record record by paddling the same river for 38.4 miles in a pumpkin weighting, depending upon the report you credit, either 1,208 pounds or 1,299 pounds. Either way, Kueny has gained fame and the adulation of the American Midwest.

-via Dave Barry