Many horses will travel to London this summer to participate in the Olympics. But owners can't just book extra seats on commercial airliners. So when horse owners need to move their steeds over great distances, they turn to Tim Dutta, the owner of a company that specializes in that complex task. When Dutta flies a horse, he does so in a purpose-built stall that fits inside a cargo plane. This year, he's using Federal Express MD-11 jets:

"The horses are flown in jet stalls, which are proprietary stalls," Dutta says. "All of the horses that will be going to the Games will be flying two in a pallet, meaning they'll be sharing the container with another horse."

That gives them more space, he says — the pallets can accommodate as many as three horses. As for an inflight beverage and snack service, the horses will get hay, along with apple juice mixed with water. They'll also get Gatorade, to help them stay hydrated, Dutta says, "and of course, carrots."

His staff will use what Dutta calls "mood lighting" — dimming the lights to keep the horses serene. And if one does start to fret, "we'll have a groom stand with them and talk," Dutta says.

Link -via Marginal Revolution | Photo: Flickr user Alaskan Dude

A criminal mastermind in Hoboken, New Jersey was caught when his forged parking permit fell prey to an unusually observant enforcer:

The 24-year-old man's fake permit spelled it "parkting," a dead giveway for an eagle-eyed parking utility worker who noticed the Acura TSX sedan parked at 225 Monroe St. at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The parking utility towed the vehicle because of the fake document and when the owner arrived to get his vehicle and identified himself, the parking utility called police, reports said.

Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: jeffk

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People enjoying a pleasant morning on the shore of Arraial do Cabo, Brazil last Monday noticed that about thirty dolphins were trapped in the surf and unable to swim back out to sea. So they spontaneously waded in, grabbed the dolphins by their tails, and pulled them into deeper water. Go Team Humanity!

Link -via reddit

Don't starve! Don't leave the computer, either! The kitchen is fifteen feet away, and nothing there is worth that much trouble. Get this case mod which was on display at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show. Spoiler: the lasagna inside isn't real. It's just wallpaper. Repeatedly stabbing at it with a fork will accomplish nothing.

Link -via Technabob | Photo: Directron

Tentsile has taken the hammock tent concept and pushed it to an extreme. The picture above doesn't do it full justice. There's a third segment projecting out the back. The entire assembly can house five to eight people. And Tensile's website suggests that they're working on a twelve-person tent.

Is it a good choice for backpacking? Probably not.

Link -via Gizmodo

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Matthew Crawley got in just one little fight in Manchester and his mom shipped him off to live with his stuffy cousins and their English butler. It's not easy becoming the Fresh Earl of Grantham.

-via Loldwell

Obviously, if one is capable of building the world's largest slingshot, one should do so without delay. If the question is "When is an appropriate time to build a giant slingshot?", the answer is always "Yes." Therefore the dudes at the app development firm Dude Perfect did so, using a tree as the handle. Watch a video of its construction and operation at the link.

Video Link -via Geekologie | Company Website (warning: auto-sound)

Previously:
Human Slingshot
Gatling Gun Slingshot

Source, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco bakes pizza with the flaming breath of a dragon. At least, that's what its attractive pizza oven suggests. David Kover's review at the link asserts that the oven is not only pretty, but effective at cooking pizza.

Link -via Nerdcore | Previously: World's Most Awesome Pizza Oven

If you're decorating a home in the Icelandic Fish Cannery style, then you'll definitely want the Uggi Lights by Dögg Guðmundsdóttir and Fanney Antonsdóttir. In keeping with the Icelandic tradition of hanging fish to dry, they skin cod, mold and dry them for three weeks before turning the husks into lampshades. The meat is processed normally, so nothing goes to waste.

Designers' Website -via Technabob

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Wine snobs, you're behind the times if you're still using a wing corkscrew. Rob Higgs's hand-cranked machine uses gears, pulleys, chains and weights to open a bottle of wine, then carefully pour its contents into a glass. Skip to 1:15 in the video to see it in action.

-via DVICE

This is Arthur Yet Lew's second TARDIS guitar, so he calls it the Patrick Troughton. At the link, you can view him posing with it next to a DeLorean DMC-12, which is confusing.

Link (Facebook login required) -via Nerd Bastards

Early in his career, superiors noticed the leadership abilities of Starfleet officer James T. Kirk. When he was promoted to post Captain at the age of 31, he was, at the time, the youngest in Starfleet history. Why was Kirk successful as a leader? Alex Knapp of Forbes describes five key traits that we can emulate. Among them was his habit of getting different points of view:

Kirk’s closest two advisors are Commander Spock, a Vulcan committed to a philosophy of logic, and Dr. Leonard McCoy, a human driven by compassion and scientific curiosity. Both Spock and McCoy are frequently at odds with each other, recommended different courses of action and bringing very different types of arguments to bear in defense of those points of view. Kirk sometimes goes with one, or the other, or sometimes takes their advice as a springboard to developing an entirely different course of action.

However, the very fact that Kirk has advisors who have a different worldview not only from each other, but also from himself, is a clear demonstration of Kirk’s confidence in himself as a leader. Weak leaders surround themselves with yes men who are afraid to argue with them. That fosters an organizational culture that stifles creativity and innovation, and leaves members of the organization afraid to speak up.

Link -via reddit | Image: Paramount

P.S. Alex Knapp previously wrote about leadership lessons from the Galactic Empire of Star Wars. Yesterday, Ilya Somin wrote an excellent critique of it.

Irene Posch's Early Winter Night Biking Gloves keep bicyclists warm and visible. They have conductive areas built into the fingertips. When the wearer forms a fist, they close a circuit and activate the turn signal.

Link -via Make

The best helpers are ones that you don't have to pay. The Canadian ad agency Rethink makes good use of bald commuters on rapid transit trains by exposing their heads for all to see.

Link -via Super Punch | Photo: David Niddrie

The boss of foodblogger and chef Michael Richardson wanted to present his cannoli in an eye-catching manner, so he asked an Italian bakery to make giant cannolo tubes. The next obvious step would be place each assembly inside even larger tubes.

Link -via Tasteologie