John Farrier's Blog Posts

Discovery: Earth-Like Exoplanet 146 Light Years Away from Us

Before you start packing, keep in mind that you will need cold weather gear. Hd 137010 B is Earth-like in the sense that Antarctica is Earth-like. Pat Brennan of NASA says that this world lies at the outer edge of the habitable zone of the star that it orbits. It's slightly larger than Earth, so perhaps the gravity is bearable.

But it's also chilly. That said, it's possible that Hd 137010 B has liquid water if it has a suitable atmosphere. 

Proposal: to encourage immigration to this new frozen world, we need a name more appealing than Hd 137010 B. Perhaps "Greenland."

-via Discovery magazine | Image: Artist's conception of Hd 137010 B by NASA


Functional Printing Presses Made of LEGO

LEGO Ideas member PrintNerd used standard LEGO pieces to make models of historical printing presses that really work. On the left is a roller-based press made of 163 pieces. On the right is a lever-operated platen press composed of 312 pieces.

These articulated designs will actually print when used with ink and paper. Like any other printing press, they transfer designs by mashing the design with controlled pressure.

Although other LEGO users use blocks and combinations thereof to engage in printmaking, these projects appear to be rare replications of actual printing machines.

-via Design Boom


The Mercedes El Camino

The El Camino is an expression of a peculiar part of the American soul. It was a coupe utility vehicle--that is a car in the front and a truck in the back. Sort of an automotive version of a mullet.

The El Camino name refers to a specific Chevrolet model, but Dodge and Ford also produced similar vehicles. But as "Coke" refers to soda generally in the more sophisticated parts of the United States, so does the El Camino refer to this entire type of car.

Jalopnik brings to our attention this custom 1981 Mercedes 280SE that has been chopped and modified into a coupe utility. This combination of European elegance and American practicality is for sale on Facebook Marketplace.


Border Dispute Between New Hampshire and Maine Inches Closer to War

Seavey's Island is an island in the mouth of the Pisquataqua River. It is within sight of the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This 0.43-square mile island is the home of a US Navy base and is the focal point of a long-standing border dispute between New Hampshire and Maine.

You see, New Hampshirites see the island as their rightful territory--one occupied unlawfully by Mainer interlopers. In New Hampshire Journal, Ian Huyett says, "Maine stole our land when we weren't looking" and lays out the case for New Hampshire's irredentism.

Two days ago, the New Hampshire State House of Representatives passed a resolution reaffirming that state's claim to Seavey's Island.

So far, Governor Kelly Ayotte has not said that she would call up the New Hampshire National Guard to forcibly return Seavey's Island to New Hampshirite control. But she hasn't also said that she wouldn't.

-via Commander Salamander


Rotary Phone Lamps

Etsy seller Retrotic in Turkey takes old rotary phones and upcycles them into stylish and retrocool lamps. This 1960s classic looks like it has been thrown out of the screen from a set of Mad Men. Other rotary phone lamps, such as this one, have LEDs on the base, too, adding to the mystique.

-via Toxel


Which US President Could Best Handle First Contact with Aliens?

X user Ben Crew poses an interesting question.

My immediate thought was John Kennedy because of how he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I think might be similar to first contact with aliens. It was necessary for Kennedy to be firm and project strength to deter the USSR and thereby avoid a nuclear war, but also restrain the hotheads within his administration who wished to invade Cuba and instigate a nuclear war. Kennedy's brinksmanship could be optimal for showing strength until the nature of the aliens could be determined.

For somewhat similar reasons, I'd also suggest Abraham Lincoln. His political coalition was profoundly fragile and fragmented. He had to keep to his goal to subdue the rebellion while not leading to a split within his side that could have led to a Southern victory. Lincoln knew how to listen to his advisors while not being enthralled by them.

Yes, Lincoln predated what we could call science fiction and thus would not have a mental map for alien life, but that itself could be useful because science fiction norms might lead us astray in the event of actual first contact.

Of course, Crew's question assumes that a President or even Presidents have not already experienced first contact with aliens.

-via Aelfred the Great

Previously on Neatorama: In a Mass Knife Fight to the Death Between Every American President, Who Would Win and Why?


Black Pearl, The Piano-Playing Miniature Therapy Horse

Black Pearl is a tiny horse who is one of nine mares owned by Nodiff Netanel's Mini Therapy Horses in the Los Angeles area. According to an article published last year in USA Today, Black Pearl is especially popular among the patients at children's hospitals due to her musical talents. As you can see in the above video, she's a talented pianist.

Here is Black Pearl performing for a child as she wakes up from anesthesia. Prank idea: don't explain the piano-playing horse to the patient. If she asks about it later, the hospital staff should claim ignorance and suggest that the patient was hallucinating.

-via David Thompson


Draco Malfoy Is the Mascot of the Chinese New Year

Images of Draco Malfoy, one of the characters in the Harry Potter franchise, are appearing across China. Why? It's not because of his charming personality and inspiring heroics. Rather, The Guardian explains, it's due the meaning of his name when pronounced in Chinese.

This is the Year of the Horse. Malfoy is spoken as mǎ ěr fú, which means "horse fortune." Draco's last name is a pun in Chinese, so people in China are putting up pictures of actor Tom Felton, who played the character in the film adaptations of Rowling's novels.

Felton, now 38, recently played his most famous role again on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He's pleased by the publicity in China.

-via Wizarding World Direct


Slave Leia/Sally and Jabba the Oogie

A few years ago at Star Wars Celebration, cosplayers @mepsychogirl and @clauderz offered this fresh and chilling mashup of characters from both Star Wars and Tim Burton's 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

@clauderz is both Sally and Princess Leia Organa in her iconic slave outfit. She's ready to wrap that chain around the throat of the Oogie Boogie, depicted by @mepsychogirl from Halloween Town on Tatooine.

Photo: @dannydeluna


Hospital Evacuated after World War I Artillery Shell Found in Patient's Rectum

The Western Front of World War I concentrated its devastation in certain parts of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. The terrain was permanently deformed due to entrenchments and explosions. In fact, there's an area of France called the Red Zone which remains uninhabited due to the destruction.

Unexploded munitions can emerge from the bowels of the earth and, despite the passing of a century, remain active and dangerous. Such was the case of a German artillery shell measuring 8 inches long and an inch in diameter (the article says circumference, but I think that's in error) that was found by doctors in a Frenchman's rectum.

The Daily Mail reports that it was necessary to evacuate the hospital during the removal procedure. The patient has been referred to police, although it's not clear to me what crime he is alleged to have committed.

It's barely February and I think that we have a top contender for the Petchesky Prize.

-via Jarvis Best

UPDATE 2/2/2026: There is a photo of the shell circulating. If you're into that sort of thing.


An Energetic Interpretive Dance of "Bohemian Rhapsody"

When is an appropriate time and place to listen to or even sing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody?" The answer is: yes.

CDK Company is a world-famous dance troupe in the Netherlands. Under creative director Sergio Reis, it has interpreted many famous songs with original choreography executed by the finest dancers on the planet.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" always slaps and these dancers bring out the best in the music and lyrics. I especially appreciate their inventive response to the words "thunderbolts and lightning."

Other songs they've covered include "Bittersuite" by Billie Ellish, "Somebody I Used to Know" by Gotye, and "Eye on the Wall" by Perfume Genius.

-via Born in Space


Japanese Spoken with an American Southern Accent

Tori Peebs is an American from Georgia and can speak with a strong (and affected) Southern accent. She lives in Japan and, for kicks, she likes to speak Japanese in videos with a Georgian twang.

Her videos are equally funny with the sound off as she uses her minimal props comedically and ridiculously.

-via Klara


You Can Live and Work in This Small Town Bookstore

Wigtown is a charming village on southwestern coast of Scotland. There are many places to stay while there, including a bookstore. The Open Book is a bookstore operated by the local book festival. It's available as an Airbnb to rent.

But you've to earn your keep. While residing in the rooms upstairs, you're expected to run the bookstore. You'll have the freedom to organize the books, create and change displays, set the prices, and change the chalkboard sign to entice visitors to come in and contribute to the local literary culture. It's the ideal getaway for book lovers who are looking for a working vacation.


Police Explain the Difference between Sleet and Freezing Rain

Winter has come to much of the South, including Texas. We are familiar but not intimate with cold weather, as King of the Hill teased. It is currently well below freezing in the Texas town of Roanoke, which is north of Fort Worth. The police department of that municipality has published this guide to understanding the difference between freezing rain and sleet.

People who live in the tundra north of the Red River may understand it intuitively, but those of us south of that wall representing the northern limit of civilization must learn that the types of ice are different. Freezing rain is liquid when it strikes the ground, whereas sleet fell in solid form. The police explain this distinction using iconic of law enforcement foods: the donut.

-via Scanner Radio Fort Worth


Seduction in Action

Do you want to drive women wild with desire? Flex out your dewlap with your hyoid muscles. Pulse it rhythmically while bobbing your head up and down. Hopefully your dewlap has a naturally red coloration.

If not...well, just be confident. Likle this guy in Ryan Mason's At Random Comics. Flex what you have like you have the biggest, brightest dewlap in the forest.


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Profile for John Farrier

  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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