It's called "graffiti hair." Like a lot of graffiti art, it involves stencils and a spray paint. Janine Ker, a hairstylist in Pasadena, California, makes her unique compositions by spraying a dye over stencils. By combining different layers of colors and shapes, she creates vibrant images on the hair of her clients. 

(Photo: Underwater Criminal Investigators)

The diver is holding a holstered knife in one hand and a stolen handgun in the other. Perhaps the last criminal to possess them thought that they'd disappear in the murky water. But crime scene divers found them.

This is the world of underwater criminal investigation, a criminal justice specialization described at length in an article at Atlas Obscura. These divers know how to search bodies of water for evidence and how to handle that evidence so that it can be used in the criminal justice system. Mike Berry, an underwater criminal investigator, describes the hazards of his profession:

The taxing conditions don't just involve muck and pitch blackness. “The water that we dive in, a lot of it is contaminated," Berry says, "so just ingesting some of that water could kill you.” Divers can step on broken glass or injure their hands on nails. And then there are the creatures of the deep, some of whom make their presence known at highly inconvenient moments. Depending on the location of the investigation, divers may have to contend with turtles, poisonous snakes, alligators, or inquisitive fish.

“The worst I’ve been bit was from a snapping turtle," says Berry. "You know, you can’t see them, so as your hand is moving along the bottom, feeling, you hope you get the rear end of the turtle instead of the front end. I got the front end one day ... it went right through my hand, from one side to the other.” The pain, he says, was "like a lightning strike.”

Vicki and Brooke are a mother-daughter team of artists. They operate Sister Golden, an online boutique of their marvelous crafts. The most fascinating among these works are their compositions made with pieces of flowers and other plants. 

(Photo: David Ngo)

For the San Diego Comic Con, the famous cosplayer Leeanne Vamp dressed as Dark Helmet, the Darth Vader analog from the Mel Brooks parody film Spaceballs. I doubt she'll find the suit as suffocating as Rick Moranis did.

(Image: TBIT)

Does your semen contain a sufficiently large number of sperm cells to make fertilization likely? You may no longer have to visit a doctor's office to find out. Researchers in Japan have developed a process that permits a man to examine a sample with a cell phone and get an accurate sperm count. It takes the form of a tiny lens that turns a cell phone camera into a microscope. New Scientist talked to researcher Yoshitomo Kobori about the procedure:

To do a home test, a man would have to wait for around five minutes after ejaculation for the semen to liquefy, then apply a small amount to a plastic sheet and press it against the microscope for inspection. This can be done without getting semen on to the phone, says Kobori.

The process uses the camera to take a 3-second video of the semen, then sends the recording to a lab for analysis. The system is as effective as what's used in fertility clinics:

Kobori says the system works as well as the software used in fertility clinics. In a test, the team ran 50 semen samples through both systems, and got almost identical results.

-via David Thompson

(Berkeley Mews)

It could be cool if the Earth was a Poké Stop. But there's too much risk. It could attract potentially hostile and dangerous alien civilizations to Earth. As Stephen Hawking warned us last year, that's something that we don't need.

(Unrelated photo by waferboard)

In the future, sutures won't just hold pieces of your body together. They'll also monitor your healing and send information to your doctor.

Researchers at Tufts University have developed sensors that fit into durable threads. These can wirelessly transmit data to outside devices. A press release from Tufts explains:

The researchers used a variety of conductive threads that were dipped in physical and chemical sensing compounds and connected to wireless electronic circuitry to create a flexible platform that they sutured into tissue in rats as well as in vitro. The threads collected data on tissue health (e.g. pressure, stress, strain and temperature), pH and glucose levels that can be used to determine such things as how a wound is healing, whether infection is emerging, or whether the body’s chemistry is out of balance. The results were transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone and computer. […]

“The ability to suture a thread-based diagnostic device intimately in a tissue or organ environment in three dimensions adds a unique feature that is not available with other flexible diagnostic platforms,” said Sameer Sonkusale, Ph.D., corresponding author on the paper and director of the interdisciplinary Nano Lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts School of Engineering. “We think thread-based devices could potentially be used as smart sutures for surgical implants, smart bandages to monitor wound healing, or integrated with textile or fabric as personalized health monitors and point-of-care diagnostics.”

-via Lawrence E. Forbes

(Photo: Transport Accident Commision of Victoria)

If, during the course of human development, the ability to survive a car crash would be a major evolutionary advantage, the human body might look like this guy. His name is Graham, and he's a sculpture made by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria, Australia.

The agency is using Graham to express the importance of car safety. A normal human body can't shrug off a major collision. Graham, however, could do pretty well. The Guardian describes him:

He has no neck, meaning he cannot break it; a flat, fatty face to protect the nose and ears; airbags in between each rib; and thicker and tougher skin. His knees bend in all directions. […]

The commission says Graham is informed by “the science of human vulnerability” – not-quite-living proof of how susceptible we are to injury.

You can see a 360º, interactive presentation of Graham here (auto-start audio).

-via Gizmodo

(Infinite Monkey Business/Demitrios Haldes)

And if you want it back, you'll have to pay. Leave $50,000 in unmarked, non-sequential $100 bills by the potty at naptime. And if you go to Mommy or the police, you'll never see the nose again.

-via Tastefully Offensive

(Photo: DeeperThought)

It was once a futuristic symbol of entertainment. Now it's an obsolete relic from the past. DVD players and digital recording and playback devices have replaced the old VCR console. Now that machine has reached its end. Funai, the last manufacturer of video cassette recorders, is ending production this month. Popular Mechanics reports:

The reasons for Funai's halting VCR production aren't surprising: they've cited declining sales and difficulty finding parts, which translates to "nobody's buying them anymore." Just because nobody's buying doesn't mean that nobody's using them, of course. VCRs and VHS tapes have garnered a cult fan base, with people coming to appreciate the lack of sharpness in quality as a type of warmth, or nostalgia. This has inspired a trend of appreciation towards older formats. Indeed, as the VCR ends its initial run, Kodak is looking to revitalize the Super 8 under the tagline "Analog Renaissance." So if you're going to miss the VCR, just wait 20 years.

-via Glenn Reynolds

(Photo: Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune)

This is Jason Haney, a construction manager working on a project for Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. He and his co-workers like to entertain the kids who look outside their windows. Last winter, they built a snowman. More recently, they decided to make a Waldo figure from the Where's Waldo? books.

Haney made the 8-foot tall figure from plywood and he and his daughter painted it. Haney and his co-workers hide it in the framework of the new building under construction until a kid spots it. Then they move Waldo somewhere else and start the game over.

(Photo: Hedi Prescott/Beacon Health System)

The South Bend Tribune reports that kids love it:

Arrihanna Williams, 7, and another child enjoyed watching as the crane above the hospital moved a big load of materials. When asked, Arrihanna was quick to point out where Waldo was standing from the playroom window.

Down the hall, 9-year-old Neveah Garza was in contact isolation and unable to leave her room. But her window overlooked the construction site and she enjoyed watching the men at work.

“Poor guys, they have to work in the sun,” she said.

In the past, she’s hunted for Waldo in library books and on an online site, she said, explaining how that worked. But it was a bit of a challenge to find the character at the building site.

“Mom found him first,” she said, pointing down at the site. “See he’s down there, by that fan thingy.”

-via Nerd Approved

This gem of a truck is on sale in Lynchburg, Virginia. For only $1,800, you can get a truck with a truly perfect camouflage paint scheme. It blends into the background, including the shadows, like it's not even there.

It's got 74,000 miles on the odometer, though. So although the paint job is "like new," the engine isn't.

-via David Burge

What makes this rolling hospital bedside cabinet by Kinnier Dufort unique is the rounded edges and joints. There are fewer hidden crannies and junctions that are hard to clean. Hospital workers can disinfect every part of it easier than conventional bedside cabinets, making it more likely to free from infectious pathogens. You can photos of it at Core 77.

Robert Lian, an airline pilot, got tired of dragging his rolling luggage through airports with his hands. He wanted to be able to use his hands while walking with bags. So in 2014, he invented My Hitch. It's like a trailer hitch for your body.

First, put on a belt or tight-fitting pants. My Hitch won't work if you're naked or wearing loose clothes. Then slip the plastic hook into the back of your pants, put the handle of your bag over the other end of the hook, and start walking.

-via Gizmodo

(Photo: Balmuda)

Truly perfect toast is expensive. You need more than just top-tier bread. You also need to cook it the right way. And the Balmuda from Japan is the best machine for the job.

At $230, it's expensive by toaster standards. But it comes with a novel approach to toasting: adding water. Bloomberg reports on how Gen Terao invented it:

It was at a company picnic on a rainy day, warming bread on a grill, that company founder Gen Terao and his band of product designers accidentally made great toast. After the showers stopped, they tried to reproduce it in a parking lot and realized that water was the key. Thousands of slices later, they figured out that steam traps moisture inside the bread while it's being warmed at a low temperature. The heat is cranked up just at the end, giving it a respectable crust.

-via Core 77