The famed Muppet Kermit the Frog eventually found refuge from Miss Piggy in the forests of Costa Rica. Scientists say that the newly-classified Hyalinobatrachium dianae has been found at 6 sites close to the Caribbean coast. It has a translucent chest and is named for the discovering scientist’s mother and the Roman goddess Diana. But fans prefer to think of it as Kermit due to his skin color and his ping pong ball-like white eyes.
He’s been a major celebrity for 38 years, but Artoo hasn’t lost his common touch. Our favorite droid since 1977 was a guest of honor at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California this past weekend. In between appearances with thousands of adoring fans, R2-D2 took time out of his busy schedule to play with a little boy at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Lady Jane Stanely of Knutsford, Cheshire, UK, never married and was rather bitter about it. She sometimes saw couples walking next to each other down the sidewalks of her town and took it upon herself to end this public impropriety.
In the 1790s, at the urging of Lady Jane, the town of Knutsford narrowed its sidewalks so that it woudl be impossible to walk two abreast. Last year, the town decided that it was time to stop accomodating Lady Jane and made plans to widen the sidewalks. The Daily Telegraph reports:
Councillor Michael Jones, Conservative leader of Cheshire East Council, said: "I am all in favour of retaining our fantastic heritage, but this is one of those occasions when we can improve on the legacy of the past.
"We want to create a space which will be enjoyed by the residents – whether they are walking arm in arm or not – while also attracting visitors and enabling businesses in the locality to thrive. The shops and businesses are a great asset to Cheshire East and the street merits and deserves enhancement works."
Nazi Germany coveted the prosperous nation of Switzerland and made plans to invade it. But Operation Tannenbaum remained forever a hypothetical exercise and the Swiss were largely spared from the ravages of World War II.
This was in part because the Swiss made thoughtful and thorough plans to defend their nation to the death. Though the Axis powers surrounded Switzerland for almost 5 tears, a German conquest of that nation would be costly--ultimately too costly for Hitler to risk.
Some of the fortifications that the Swiss built to defend their borders include a 10 kilometer stretch of concrete anti-tank barriers near Lake Geneva. These pillars are called "Dragon's Teeth," but people have since come to refer to the remains of this defensive line as the Toblerone Line. That's because they closely resemble Toblerone, the famous Swiss chocolate candy.
Firefighters found the home in Canyon County, Idaho ablaze. Hearing voices inside, they battled the smoke and flames to get in and rescue the inhabitants. There, they found two parrots repeatedly saying, "Help!" and "Fire!"
They took the parrots outside and gave them oxygen. According to KBOI 2 News, the parrots are expected to recover.
Aurora and Peregrino are two polar bears that, until recently, lived at the Kazan Zoo in Russia. Now they're enjoying a warmer climate at the Sao Paulo Aquarium in Brazil. They've been in seclusion from the public for 4 months in order to get used to their new home. Recently, Aurora and Peregrino began receiving visitors, including this little girl who expressed her welcome by holding up her toy bunny.
Xena, a Miniature Pinscher, wants the ball. She needs the ball. Yet though it is only a few inches away, it is forever beyond her grasp. Despite her best efforts, she cannot break through the invisible, magical barrier between herself and the tennis ball. Just keep trying, Xena!
Joey Jax, a Golden Retriever, just turned 2 years old! He loves to play with tennis balls, so his human spoiled him by giving him 800 new ones. Watch his reaction when he realizes that the entire pile of balls on the living room floor is his to play with. He has no idea which to play with first!
This magnificent cosplay by an unknown fan at Star Wars Celebration this past weekend offers the perfect trap. From the bridge of the flagship Home One, the Admiral conducts the attack on the second Death Star. His uniform is now more suited for a hot summer on Endor.
This video, allegedly from Slovenia, shows a man trying to pull up a tree using a tractor. The tree is not going to die without a fight. Maybe the man will think twice before taking on another tree.
Col. Terry Virts (USAF) is an astronaut currently serving on the International Space Station. Chapple's Dictionary of Physics defines centripetal force as "a force that acts at right angles to a body's path and so constrains the body to follow a circular path about the point to which the centripetal force acts." That's a circle, which Col. Virts demonstrates nicely in zero gravity using a chain.
Small children may not be bright enough to look both ways before crossing a street, but many wild chimps are. Scientists observed a stretch of road in Uganda for 29 months. 112 chimpanzees crossed during that time. 92% of them checked for cars in at least one direction before crossing. Many checked both directions. Alpha makes were particularly vigilant, carefully organizing about 83% of the group crossings. The video below shows one alpha escorting a group across the road. He watches the progress of the stragglers while monitoring road traffic.
On the right is Skeletor, the main villain on the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. On the left is Maratus skeletus, a species of peacock spider named in his honor. Madeline Girard, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, discovered it and another that she calls "Sparklemuffin" in Australia. How did she come up the names? Girard explains in an interview for the blog of Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management:
Searching for and catching spiders feels a little bit like a game; my colleague and I started joking that it felt like we were playing Pokémon! Our first brainstorms with these two new species were trying to play off of that. We didn’t come up with a good Pokémon reference, but “Skeletorus” came up because the spider is black with white lines resembling a skeleton (and we liked the subtle reference to Skeletor from Masters of the Universe!). Sparklemuffin just kind of popped up one day. We wanted something a little bit glamorous, which led to sparkle…and muffin works because the shape of the spider (which is more narrow at the interior of the abdomen and then puffs out at the top) sort of resembles a muffin top. It started as our nickname, but people really love the name and it has made the species really popular!
Every few months, I make anime viewing recommmendations and invite Neatorama readers to suggest their own and discuss any anime topics they want. Let's do it again!
The last time that I made anime recommendations, Aldnoah Zero rested at the top of the post. You know what? It does again! It's an extraordinary, soaring drama of love, war, courage, and treachery. Slaine Troyard--the man in the red coat--is the most fascinating character I've encountered in anime. After 24 episodes, the series is now complete and is now easily one of my three favorites.
The USS Porter is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer currently deployed off the coast of Scotland. It's participating in Joint Warrior, a regular NATO combined arms exercise led by the Royal Navy. A US Navy photographer snapped this great shot framing the Porter inside a rainbow.
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