This video shows a ferry boat tied up at a dock on the River Dart in Devon, UK. A bag of 20 £1 coins sat inside a metal box. This was part of the day's earnings for the ferry. Security camera footage shows that a seagull landed on the boat, slipped his beak inside the box, and flew away with the bag of money.
This isn't the bird's first foray into a life of crime. He's previously been caught stealing a newspaper.
(Photo: Israeli Wildlife Hospital)
The Israeli Wildlife Hospital treats many wild birds that live in and migrate across Israel every year. It often needs to provide blood transfusions to injuried birds. Blood can be in short supply, which is why the hospital has created the world's first blood bank for them. Ynetnews reports:
The project, which the hospital says is the first of its kind in the world, is being led by Dr. Elad Smit.
"We already have 16 samples in our blood bank," Smit said. "And now we're considering taking a blood sample from every bird we treat, to aid in the saving of the next bird that would come."
The blood bank has already helped save a common buzzard that was brought to the hospital in serious condition. The blood transfusion the bird received helped it recover, and it has already been released back to nature.
-via Marginal Revolution
(Photo: Highlight Images)
Don't be too proud of this architectural terror you've constructed. The ability to comfortably house a family is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
But, still, the lucky family that lives in this interior design by White Interior is enjoying the good life. They enjoy lightsaber lamps (be careful changing those bulbs!) a TIE-fighter table, and bookcases inspired by the Millennium Falcon. You can see more photos at Contemporist.
(Photo: Foot Sports UK)
Foot Sports UK has invented a fun new sport: Foot Darts. You kick a velcro-covered soccer ball against a 23-foot high inflatable dartboard. Whatever spot your ball adheres to determines the number of points you get. And if your vertical reach isn't that strong, then you can kick from an elevated platform.
It'd make a great pub game.
-via Bit Rebels
(Photo: Ben Yexly/UNSW)
Conservationists at the University of New South Wales want cattle farmers in Botswana to be able to live side-by-side with wild lions. That's hard because the lions prey on the farmers' cattle. So the scientists proposed a form of psychological warfare: painting eyes on the cows' butts. Lions, seeing the false eyes, will assume that they've being spotted and should give up hunting those particular cows. A press release from the University quotes biologist Neil Jordan:
Dr Jordan’s idea of painting eyes onto cattle rumps came about after two lionesses were killed near the village in Botswana where he was based. While watching a lion hunt an impala, he noticed something interesting: “Lions are ambush hunters, so they creep up on their prey, get close and jump on them unseen. But in this case, the impala noticed the lion. And when the lion realised it had been spotted, it gave up on the hunt,” he says.
In nature, being ‘seen’ can deter predation. For example, patterns resembling eyes on butterfly wings are known to deter birds. In India, woodcutters in the forest have long worn masks on the back of their heads to ward-off man-eating tigers.
Jordan’s idea was to “hijack this mechanism” of psychological trickery. Last year, he collaborated with the BPCT and a local farmer to trial the innovative strategy, which he’s dubbed “iCow”.
-via American Digest
According to legend, King Dhammazedi, the ruler of a nation in what is now Burma, built the largest bell in the world in 1484. The copper, gold, and silver bell weighed nearly 300 tons. It hung alongside the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in the world.
Then, in 1608, a Portuguese mercenary and bandit named Filipe de Brito stole the bell, planning to melt it down to forge cannons. He tried to float it across the Bago River on a raft. But the raft became unstable during the passage and the bell sank into the deep water, never to be seen again.
It's one of the greatest mysteries of Burmese history. Scholars and treasure hunters have spent years searching for it. That's especially difficult, as the course of the river has changed in the past 400 years. Worse still, the BBC explains, the Great Bell of Dhammazedi may have never existed at all:
Historian Chit San Win has spent most of his life researching and writing about the Dhammazedi Bell, and following the failed salvage efforts.
When I meet up with him at the Schwedagon Pagoda he lays his maps on the floor and tells me that both the Yangon and Bago Rivers have changed course in the last 400 years, making it almost certain that the search is in the wrong place.
More worryingly, having scoured Burmese literature for supporting evidence of the Great Bell he now has serious doubts as to whether it ever really existed.
"I really hope that the bell is real, it would make me so proud of our country," he says.
"But if we look at the three main Burmese history books written 200 years after the Bell sunk none of them mention it."
-via Amusing Planet
This is RoboGlove. It's like a Power Loader from Alien, but for your hand. It wraps around your hand, greatly enhancing your grip strength. General Motors, which is developing the technology, is being quiet about precisely what it can do. But we know that the aim is to make it powerful for heavy tasks, yett remain sensitive for gentle ones. Wired reports:
GM’s now working with Swedish med-tech company Bioservo to adapt the Robonaut’s grip to gloves. Pressure sensors and actuators mimic nerves and muscles, so the glove knows when the hand inside is picking something up. It’s gentle enough to handle eggs but firm enough to maintain a strong grip, so you aren’t wasting energy holding your hammer.
(Photo: Robb Nash)
Robb Nash is a Canadian rock musician. One day, a young girl handed him a suicide note. She said that she had changed her mind and didn't need it anymore.
So Nash talked to groups of teens, urging them not to make this terrible choice. And so more fans sent in their suicide notes, as well as razor blades and bullets that they had planned to use. Over time, he's received 535 notes from young people who are thinking about suicide.
Nash started tattooing their names on his arm. Now he's got 120 names of suicide survivors on his arm. He tells BuzzFeed:
“I point at my hand and say, ‘Look at my arm. These kids had the same thoughts as you, and they’re still here.’”
-via My Modern Met
In 1971, a man using the alias Dan Cooper bought a ticket for an airline flight from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. He hijacked the plane, then demanded a ransom of $200,000. After landing in Seattle, Cooper got his ransom money, released the passengers, then ordered the pilot to take off again. While over Washington, Cooper put on a parachute and jumped out of the plane with the ransom money.
He was never seen again.
Cooper, later called 'D.B. Cooper' by a confused media corps, became a national sensation. His amazing crime and disappearance captured the popular imagination. Law enforcement agencies hunted him, but with no success.
Now more 44 years later, the FBI is ready to close the case and end its decades-long investigation. In its press release, Public Affairs Specialist Ayn Dietrich-Williams writes that continuing the investigation is a poor use of limited resources:
Although the FBI appreciated the immense number of tips provided by members of the public, none to date have resulted in a definitive identification of the hijacker. The tips have conveyed plausible theories, descriptive information about individuals potentially matching the hijacker, and anecdotes—to include accounts of sudden, unexplained wealth. In order to solve a case, the FBI must prove culpability beyond a reasonable doubt, and, unfortunately, none of the well-meaning tips or applications of new investigative technology have yielded the necessary proof. Every time the FBI assesses additional tips for the NORJAK case, investigative resources and manpower are diverted from programs that more urgently need attention.
-via Laughing Squid
Gotta catch 'em all but don't have time? Call on the services of Alicia Thomas, a professional Pokémon trainer--yes, professional. This is what she does for a living.
According to her Craiglist ad, if you pay her, Thomas will login to Pokémon GO with your account credentials and quickly collect many, high-quality Pokémon:
I will walk around in 1-4 hour shifts signed in to your account capturing every single Pokemon I come into contact with, activating every Poke Stop I pass and walking nonstop to help hatch your eggs. I'll even send you hourly updates while you're at work/class/on a hot date informing you of any really exciting things I've come across for you. Pokemon training help, gym battles and strategy tips are also included, if requested.
Thomas isn't just some random person with a phone. She's a Pokémon expert and is prepared to be the best trainer you've ever had:
Personally, I am a level 15 trainer in Pokemon GO right now and control all of the gyms near my place. […]
Details: I currently own an iPhone 6s, several portable chargers and am in very good physical fitness. Spending hours on my feet is not an issue.
I admire her entrepreneurial spirit. As the Ninth Rule of Acquisition says, "Opportunity plus instinct equals profit." Thomas's instincts guided her to an opportunity and she's seized it. I hope she makes a lot of money.
-via Jeremy Barker
The African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) is the biggest in Africa and noted for his aggressiveness. He's big and tough, but a complete sweetheart when it comes to caring for his kids.
In this video from the TV series Nature, his tadpoles grow up in a puddle next to a pond. The sun is drying up the puddle, placing his kids in mortal peril. So he digs a channel from the puddle to the main pond, providing them a means of escape.
-via Gifsboom
Don't freak out if you see a few household objects hovering in midair in the living room. It just looks that way if the Klingon Bird-of-Prey table is cloaked.
Barry Shields, a master craftsman who also made tables with the Enterprise-C and an X-wing fighter, produced this marvel of Klingon engineering. It's built around a 48 inch square glass top. The ship consists of walnut, cherry, and poplar. Shields is selling it for about $5,000, which is expensive. Like Admiral Kirk, you may prefer to simply steal a Bird-of-Prey.
-via Home Crux
I predict this will literally happen someday. A criminal defendant will offer his location while playing Pokémon GO as evidence of his innocence. And, at roughly the same time, a crime drama on TV will show Pokémon GO being used to frame someone for a murder he didn't commit.
(Image: Thanko)
It's hot outside, but it's even hotter inside your shirt! Your armpits are greenhouses for bacteria that make you . . . aromatic. And those of us who live and work with you wish that you were less olfactorily noticeable.
Rocket News 24 reports on a marvelous solution: the armpit fan. It's a battery-powered fan that clips onto your shirt sleeve. It will either relieve the heat of your armpits or spread your stench further. There's really only one way to find out for sure.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
This baby knows where it's at! For true relaxation, gather four Pit Bulls into a clump, then settle down for a nap. And the dogs enjoy it as much as he does!
But I don't have 4 dogs handy. If I find 4 cats, will this technique work as well?
-via Gifsboom
