(Photo: Studio Sebert)

In the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, the pious Judith cuts of the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes. In the Sixteenth Century, the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted the scene at least twice. One of those paintings now hangs in Rome. The other vanished from Naples centuries ago.

At some point, a French Army officer serving under Napoleon took the painting as loot back to his home in Toulouse, France. Two years ago, the current owners of the house found the painting in their attic.

As a long-lost treasure of art history, it's an incredible find. It's also worth a lot of money. Art dealers estimate that it could sell for $135 million USD. That's because it's indisputable authentic and unique. The Telegraph reports:

“This particular lighting, this energy typical of Caravaggio without corrections, with a sure hand and the pictorial material make this painting an original,” said art expert and gallery owner Eric Turquin.

Experts concur there is no way it could be a copy given the bold, spontaneous brushstrokes known as “alla brava” in Italian – Caravaggio never sketched first - and the fact that the painter made some clear corrections to hands, something that a careful copier would not do. […]

The Turquin gallery said the work was a “darker, crueller and more naturalistic rendering of the scene” than the other known version hanging in Rome.

Judith, with her “terrible determined stare looks directly at the viewer” while her maid, Abra, appears to encourage her to commit the act.

Unlike in the Rome version, the soldier comes across as a “vulnerable and common man” rather than a glorious general, with “the sunburnt hands of a soldier, and face that grimaces in pain, with eyes that are already dead”.

-via Marilyn Bellamy

(Photo: Specs4usUS)

About 60% of people with Down Syndrome have vision problems. But most eyeglasses frames won't fit the facial features of people with it.

For Maria Dellapina, a single mother of 4 children, that was a problem. Her daughter, Erin, couldn't find glasses that fit her. So in 2004, she founded SPECS4US, a company that produces glasses for children and adults with Down Syndrome. The Erin's World line of frames gives users fashionable, practical choices for glasses.

The Huffington Post describes how the Erin's World glasses are different:

However, because many people with the disorder have flattened faces, particularly the bridge of their noses, it’s difficult to find frames that fit. 

“I noticed a typical frame wouldn’t fit properly,” Dellapina, who had originally designed some frames for her daughter on a piece of paper, said at the conference.

To help alleviate the issue, Specs4us’ “Erin’s World” frame line, inspired by Dellapina’s daughter, is crafted to accommodate a low nasal bridge, according to the company’s website. The arms of the glasses are also modified to prevent them from slipping down.

(Image: McAndrew and Koehnke)

What does it mean to be creepy? We recently looked at cartoon illustrations. Now let's look at the science of creepiness. Francis T. McAndrew and Sara S. Koehnke of Knox College recently published an article on the subject in New Ideas in Psychology. They define creepiness as not obvious danger, but the ambiguity of danger:

A mugger who points a gun in your face and demands money is certainly threatening and terrifying. Yet, most people would probably not use the word “creepy” to describe this situation. It is our belief that creepiness is anxiety aroused by the ambiguity of whether there is something to fear or not and/or by the ambiguity of the precise nature of the threat (e.g., sexual, physical violence, contamination, etc) that might be present. Such uncertainty results in a paralysis as to how one should respond. In the mugging situation, there is no ambiguity about the presence or nature of threat.

You know what the stranger pointing a knife at you wants. But you aren't sure about the guy at work who touches you just a bit too much. In modern civilized life, you can't simply punch him. But neither can you ignore what's going on. You don't know how to respond, which is the core problem in creepiness:

It would be considered rude and embarrassing to run away from an odd person who has done nothing overtly threatening, but, on the other hand, it could be perilous to ignore your intuition and remain in an interaction that is dangerous. This ambivalence leaves you frozen in place, wallowing in unease.

-via Nerdcore

Chaco the Owl lives a quiet, domesticated life. But this only conceals his inner cowboy who is ready for wild west adventures. He mounts his trusty steed, which is a singing toy horse, and prepares to battle gunfighters, cattle rustlers, and the lonesome range.

(Video Link)

-via Gifsboom

(Photo: Tom Phillips)

What's in a snout? A lot. Jon Tennant, a doctoral researcher at Imperial College London, surveyed the shapes of the snouts of different cud-chewing animals. He found that both blunt and pointed snouts offer particular advantages.

(Photo: Milky Lane)

Churro is nature's perfect building material. Sure, we've all seen the pastry used for home construction and clothing. But now it's time to put the well-proven treat to a new purpose: ice cream bowls.

Milky Lane, a burger joint in Sydney, Australia, hasn't even opened yet. But I'll bet that there's already a line at the front door. The Urban List reports that the shop offers its ice cream sundaes in bowls made entirely of churro:

Let me walk you through the Churro Bowl, because anything short of a full introduction would be impolite. Picture a long snail of churro crafted in to the shape of a cereal bowl, then doused in cinnamon sugar and filled with homemade soft serve. It is then drizzled with Nutella and liquid caramel, but Milky Lane have also promised to add their delicious toppings into the mix. Think crushed nuts, fresh fruit, pretzels and Maltesers to start.

-via Foodiggity

(Jim Benton)

Of course, thanks to the internet, you can have the full range of interpersonal experiences while remaining at home. You don't need to actually see people to get to know their personalities. Just read their comments.

(Photo: Minneapolis Institute of Arts)

In the battlefields of Edo Japan, it was necessary for warlords to mark their identity so that their troops would be able to locate them. Elaborate helmets were often the solution to this problem. One particularly fancy example of this fashion trend was this dragonfly helmet, which is now owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Dr. Matthew Welch of the museum describes it:

Craftsmen covered the underlying iron bowl with papier-mâché over a wooden framework to form the body of the insect, and covered it with lacquer. Wooden wings flare to the sides, while the insect’s eyes are rendered as large golden orbs. In Japan, the dragonfly symbolizes focused endeavor and vigilance because of its manner of moving up, down, and sideways while continuing to face forward. Ancient texts refer to Japan as Akitsushima (Island of the Dragonflies), because of their abundance. They were thought to be the spirits of rice, because they were often seen hovering above the flooded rice fields.

-via Slate Vault

(Video Link)

Millicent has the worst/best brothers ever!

She had her wisdom teeth removed. While still loopy from anesthesia, her brother, Cabot Phillips, drove her home. With fake radio reports and phone calls, the brothers convinced Millicent that a zombie apocalypse was taking place.

Despite her diminished capacity, Millicent is the only person making sensible decisions about defense and evacuation. She strives mightily to take control of the situation away from her impractical brothers.

Watch the entire thing, for it is hilarious--especially Millicent's decision about the cakes.

-via Huffington Post

Lance Burgos and his daughter were fishing in Lake Fausse Point State Park in Louisiana. They thought that they had caught a garfish on a line. So they pulled it up.

It was an alligator. A big alligator.

Burgos began pedalling his kayak as fast as he could, desperately trying to put distance between the alligator and his daughter. Burgos tells The Times-Picayune that the alligator was about 13 feet long.

(Video Link)

Content warning: foul language.

-via Tastefully Offensive

(Photo: Diego Delso)

It's called an income-share agreement (ISA). Selected students at Purdue University in Indiana can offer shares of their future earnings in exchange for money for tuition now. If a student earns little after graduation, the shares pay off little. If the student earns a lot of money, the shares pay off more. So investors are speculating on the future earnings of Purdue students.

The Washington Post describes the system:

Awards will start at $5,000 and will take into account a student’s cumulative debt. Students would repay the debt during the years immediately following college based on a fixed rate linked to their expected income, a gamble that could save them thousands of dollars as compared to traditional loans but also could cost them far more if they land high-paying jobs. […]

Income shares do not function like traditional debt in that there is no explicit principal balance or interest. Purdue created an online comparison tool that lets students plug in their major, credit hours and expected graduation date to analyze repayment terms based on projected earnings.

A history major, for instance, with a $10,000 ISA would be expected to pay 3.72 percent of his salary for nine years, according to the comparison tool. The income share would be fixed, even though the calculation assumes an anticipated starting salary of $34,000 that would grow an average $1,590 a year the first 12 years out of school.

At the end of nine years, that history major would have paid back $14,265 on the ISA. If that same student were to get a $10,000 bank loan at 9 percent interest without a co-signer, it would cost $16,684 to repay the debt in a standard 10-year term, according to the tool; the ISA in that case would give the student a savings of more than $2,400.

-via Marginal Revolution

Look at this crown. That's not molded plastic, but glue. Add dots, then let them dry. Apply more until there's a complete, self-supporting structure.

That's what shirOxxx, also known as Twitter user @white0314noriya, does. Rocket News 24 says that by gluing with precision using different color glue sticks, he can create marvelous solid sculptures, such as these:

(Photo: Bolderhof Farm)

To see the lovely terrain of Hemishofen, Switzerland, mount your trusty steed and head out on the trail. That won't be a horse, but a dairy cow. It's one means of transport for visitors to the Bolderhof Farm. The Smithsonian magazine describes the delights and challenges of this cow-mounted adventure:

Once you’re on your cow—be it Umbra, Oklahoma, La Paloma or another—it’s time to get mooving. Don’t expect to take off at a trot, though. While a horse (usually) responds to its rider's speed preference, the cows at Bolderhof pick their own pace, which Rickenbacher says is “between slow and very slow.” The ride is calm and quiet, allowing riders to enjoy stress-free moments in the beauty of the Alps. There's a benefit to saddling up a cow instead of a horse: Cows don't really care about the kinds of things that might spook a horse. “If something happens around you, the cow stands still and looks,” Rickenbacher says.

The biggest challenge cow trekkers face are stalled rides because of some particularly delicious grass or corn along the route—a problem that can be fixed with a few pets and nice words to the cow. In the worst-case scenario, you may need to hop off and lead the heifer away from the distraction.

-via TYWKIWDBI

Strictly speaking, all Lamborghini Countaches are amphibious--for an extremely short period of time. But this one is built to last. 

It's actually a replica made to resemble an original Lambo. Mike Ryan, the founder of SeaRoader Amphibious Vehicles, built it for . . . well, why wouldn't you make such a thing, if you could?

It's now up for sale on eBay, priced at £18,995.00 ($27,035 USD). Road and Track describes it:

There's some astonishing engineering going on here. The four-wheel pushrod coilover suspension is fully adjustible, with hydraulics to compress the suspension and pull the wheels into the wheel wells for water travel. Also, it's got a smoke screen button. Yes, just like James Bond's Aston Martin.

As you'd expect with a one-off so delightfully bizarre, the Amphiborghini has led a strange and unusual life. Built as a right-hand drive for U.K. roads, it was at some point shipped to the U.S. and converted to left-hand drive, used in Hollywood, then returned to the U.K. and converted back to right-hand drive, as it sits today.

-via Dave Barry

(Photo: hateyou218)

Soft serve vanilla ice cream in a cone is a true treat on any day. You could even say that it's a common luxury. So why not dress it accordingly? There's an ice cream shop in Kanazawa, Japan that sells its ice cream cones in gold foil. That's not gold-colored foil, mind you, but actually gold.