Early in his career as a geologist, Dougal Dixon developed an interest in fossils and paleontology. But he took that curiosity in a unique direction. Dixon has published several books on speculative evolution -- imagining animals that may have evolved if conditions were different. Pictured above is an illustration from one of his books depicting a future version of humanity:

In Man After Man, genetically superior humans abandon a polluted Earth to colonize space. The remaining Homo sapiens tinker with their gene codes for a thousand years to achieve immortality. One such species is the Tic, who graft back-up organs and limbs onto their bodies like Mr. Potato-Head made flesh.

Link | Official Website

In 1973, Ann Margaret Zaleski patented a dog-shaped vacuum cleaner. Why? From the abstract:

A toy dog closely resembling a real dog and having a hollow interior in which is mounted a vacuum cleaner having a suction hose which is retractable from the tail end of the dog. This enables vacuuming a dog after a haircut and grooming without causing fear to the dog, inasmuch as the vacuum cleaner noise is greatly muffled by such an enclosure.

Link via Technabob | Image: USPO

I can't speak Russian, which is real shame right now, because I'm really curious about these Russian novels about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The illustrations are truly bizarre, such as the above scene. There are many, many more at the link.

Link via Geekosystem

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Activate your cute overload compensators. At the bottom of his pile of sleeping, purring kittens is ...another kitten!

via The Presurfer

Google Maps lets users submit reviews for different locations, including the mysterious Area 51 in Nevada. Most people seem to be displeased with the customer service found there.

Link via Glenn Reynolds

Previously: Travel Reviews for Mount Everest

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This video shows a terrible and rather odd gaffe by newscaster Cynthia Izaguirre of KOAT-7 of Albuquerque. It dates back to at least 2006.

via reddit

Every year, the editors of Popular Science compile a list of what they believe to be the 100 greatest technological innovations of the past year. This time, the #1 slot went to the Groasis Waterboxx. It's a plant incubator that reduces the need for irrigation:

The Waterboxx, shaped more like a doughnut than a box, helps plants survive long enough to make it through that layer of dry soil. Place the tub around a freshly planted seedling, and fill the evaporation-proof basin—just once—with four gallons of water.

The Waterboxx does the rest. At night, its top cools faster than the air, collecting condensation to supplement those initial gallons. The tub drips about three tablespoons of water a day into the soil, sustaining the plant while encouraging its roots to grow deeper in search of more water. Once the plant reaches the moist soil layer, usually after a year, the farmer lifts the box off the plant and reuses it on the next sapling. Each Waterboxx is expected to last 10 years, and, for about a buck or two per tree grown, is cheap enough to use in poor nations.

At the link, you can view the complete list of 100 innovations divided into 11 categories.

http://www.popsci.com/bown/2010 via First Things | Photo: Popular Science

American designer Mattias Pliessnig built this curvy custom bench out of thin sheets of oak:

pliessnig recently completed 'amada', a design for a private client who wanted a large bench flowing through his living space. the piece was designed to direct the sitter to face multiple directions. the seating unit is made entirely of air-dried responsibly harvested white oak that has been steam bent to create the curvaceous form of the bench.

Link via Dude Craft | Designer's Website | Photo: Gene Young/Smithsonian

Shove Mink makes delightfully twisted amigurumi, such as this scene from The Exorcist. The crocheted vomit is a nice touch.

Blog Link and Etsy Link via Super Punch

Deflexion, developed by Dow Corning, is a material that is normally soft. When something hits it, the material instantly hardens, and then returns to its previous flexibility. So far, it's being used to make body armor for athletes, such as motorcycle riders and rodeo competitors. Dow Corning says:

It can be stylishly incorporated into a garment such as a base layer shirt, it can be designed to create protective equipment, like a soccer shin guard, or it can be incorporated into protective cases for delicate equipment. Because this high performance fabric is flexible, it can be cut and sewn directly into clothing, eliminating the need to insert uncomfortable padding. It can be layered, so garments can be customized with increased levels of protection for specific areas.

Link via DVICE | Image: Dow Corning, Screenshot: Core77

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Marc Kossover attached neon light bulbs to a sheet of acrylic and put it inside a microwave. As the oven operated and microwaves flowed across the panel, the lights lit up.

http://kossover.squarespace.com/journal/2010/11/12/seeing-where-the-microwaves-are.html via CrunchGear

Tokyo-based artist Katsumi Hayakawa makes intricate 3D paper sculptures. At the link, you can see photographs from an exhibition of her work at the Gallery MoMo Roppongi in Tokyo.

http://katsumihayakawa.com/exhibition2010-menu.html via Dude Craft | Photo by the artist

Thomas Mills made this piece of furniture which he calls "Long Form Library." It's a combination bookcase and reading chair:

As you sit within the cradle, it rocks gently back and forth. Don’t get going too fast or you’ll roll all the way away. This library can hold its own weight in books (and I’d wager even more, by the looks of it), the cushioned seat a nod to the futuristic furniture found in Stanley Kubrick films, especially 2001. Reading lamps are placed for reading in the most obvious manner, while lights placed around the circumference act as a clock, timers changing the brightness of them to its highest at the equinox of the day, dimmed to nothing at midnight. Strange!

Link via Born Rich | Designer's Website | Photo by the designer

Previously: Circular Bookcase

Archaeologists found twenty intact conch shell trumpets at a site in the Andes Mountains. They tested them to determine how they could be played and what sounds they could make:

As an expert shell musician blew into the horn, researchers recorded the sound’s path via four tiny microphones placed inside the player’s mouth, the shell’s mouthpiece, the shell’s main body and at the shell’s large opening, or bell. Similar to a bugle, the instruments only sound one or two tones, but like a French horn, the pitch changes when the player plunges his hand into the bell.

The team used signal-processing software to characterize the acoustic properties of each trumpet. Following the sound’s path made it possible to reconstruct the ancient shell’s interior, a feat that normally involves sawing the shell apart or zapping it with X-rays.

Link via io9 | Photo: José Luis Cruzado, Chavin de Huantar Investigation and Conservation Project

Webempire is a tool that imagines what websites would look like if their traffic reflected their populations. Neatorama would be the same size as Malta, and could fill the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin five times. Of course, we already have our own island.

http://www.sharenator.com/empires via The Presurfer