In 1878, photographer Eadweard Muybridge settled a wager made on a widely-debated question: do all four hooves of a horse leave the ground when it runs? Muybridge set up a line of cameras, each of which was triggered when the horse ran into strings placed across its path. The resulting images settled the debate (all four hooves leave the ground) and led to the development of the zoopraxiscope, one of the earliest motion picture projection systems. To commemorate this historic event, Flickr user Ms. Cleaver knitted a cap showing the sequence of images.

Link -via Nerdcore | Image: Flickr user ms.cleaver

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Did you love playing in sandboxes when you were a kid? It was fun to move dirt around with little toy bulldozers and dump trucks. Now there's a company in Las Vegas that will let you do it for real. Dig This in Las Vegas invites ordinary, untrained people to move dirt under the supervision of skilled heavy equipment operators.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Adults-get-life-sized-sandbox-near-Las-Vegas-Strip-2152298.php -via The Presurfer

US District Judge Sam Sparks was utterly disgusted by the behavior of attorneys for both sides on a case, and so issued a formal order compelling them to attend a "kindergarten party." More likely, though, it was a stern lecture on professional courtesy and decorum. The attorneys responded by resolving their dispute, and the party was cancelled.

Court Document and News Article -via Lowering the Bar | Note: image edited for space

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You could do this with three different screens, but YouTube user redstarfutbol (may his name be lauded with glory forever), has made it much easier by loading each movie into a single video. What hidden meanings can now be found?

-via Theresa Coleman

Darren Pearson, a light painter, composes images with a light source, such as a flashlight, and a camera with a very low shutter speed. Recently, he made a set of detailed dinosaur images using this technique. Would you like to try it yourself? Check out the video tutorial and learn how to do it.

Artist's Website, Video Tutorial and Flickr Set -via Geekologie

For his project entitled "Live Free or Die", artist Dan Tague folded dollar bills so that letters spell out messages. The name is the state motto of New Hampshire, as well as a line from John Stark, an American Revolutionary War general. You can view nine other folded bills from the project at the link.

http://dantaguestudio.com/index.php?/installation/live-free-or-die/ -via American Digest

The Buffalo nickel, which was released by the US Mint in 1913, had a buffalo on one side and a nameless Native American on the other. Due to the hardness of its nickel-copper alloy, it was well-suited for carving. So many Americans worked designs and images into the surface. During the Great Depression, this practiced reached its zenith as unemployed, wandering men carved their own nickels in the hope of selling them for something greater than five cents. The tradition thrived for a generation, and surviving hobo nickels are prized by collectors. Read all about this craft at Appalachian History.

http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/04/hobo-nickels-2.html -via Colossal

When he was 18, Alan Moore played college football for a year before leaving school to serve with the US Army in Vietnam. When he got back, Moore got a job, got married, and eventually had three children and five grandchildren. But the desire to play football returned to him. Now he's back, 43 years later. Moore is now a student and a football player at Faulkner University, a small college in Montgomery, Alabama:

Eagles Head Coach Gregg Baker says Moore "got on me the first couple times we talked, because I kept calling him, 'Yes sir.' And he said, 'Coach, you're not supposed to call me "yes. I'm supposed to call you 'Yes, sir."'[...]

Says Baker, "Alan came to us back in the spring and said, 'My story is showing these kids there's no reason to give up on your dreams, and there's no reason not to continue trying to get your education."

Moore lives in the dorms, eats in the cafeteria and attends class, proving, observes "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Russ Mitchell, he has the mind, the heart and foot to compete with players young enough to be his grandchildren.

Video at the link.

Link -via First Things | Photo: Yahoo! Sports

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Brass Farthing is a barbershop harmony vocal group that performs in steampunk-style costumes, including aviator goggles and copious amounts of the color brown. Here they are performing a song about a rascally trombonist who seduces the narrator's wife.

Official Website -via Make

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David Hudson of Jonesboro, Arkansas, took his friend Steve Lynn for a ride in his airplane. Lynn wanted to see what his house looked like from the sky, so Hudson flew there. While looking down, they noticed that people were loading items from Lynn's home into a truck. They had spotted a burglary in progress.

Hudson and Lynn immediately contacted the police. The burglars tried to get away, so from the air, Hudson and Lynn gave the police turn by turn directions that led them directly to the suspects.

http://www.kait8.com/story/15348775/homeowner-has-eyes-in-the-sky-spots-apparent-burglary-underway -via Ace of Spades HQ

What are the rules for hunting the Abominable Snowman? The government of Nepal was very clear about what people on mountain climbing expeditions should do if they encounter a Yeti. In 1959, Ernest H. Fisk, counselor of the US embassy in Kathmandu, summarized the rules for American travelers in Nepal. You can read the full memo at the US National Archives.

Link -via Say Uncle

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Ed Catmull and Fred Parke made this film demonstrating early computer generated animation way back in 1972. It shows an animated hand derived from a physical model and then digitized, as well as facial movements based on mathematical formulas. Catmull went on to start Pixar, so in a sense this is the first Pixar film, and quite possibly the first computer animated 3D film.

Link -via The Mary Sue

A study by psychologist Paul Babiak indicates that one in twenty-five leaders could be a psychopath. This affliction could actually be an advantage in a workplace:

The survey suggests psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are adept at climbing the corporate ladder because they can cover up their weaknesses by subtly charming superiors and subordinates.

This makes it almost impossible to distinguish between a genuinely talented team leader and a psychopath, Babiak said. Hare told Horizon: "The higher the psychopathy, the better they looked – lots of charisma and they talk a good line.

Link -via Geekosystem | Image: Lions Gate Films

Hyeona Yang and Joshua Noble, two students at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, built the "Raincatch." It's a suit that collects rainwater and filters it into drinking water.

If Joshua Noble's name seems familiar to you, it may be because he's one of the people responsible for the playable receipt printer.

Link -via DVICE

This lovely sculpture is itself impressive, but what I found most noteworthy was that this mysterious photo was placed on reddit, and the hive mind of that community went to work tracking down information about it. One redditor even found a Google Street View image to confirm the location. This little house was built at a remote lake in the Altai Republic, Russia by a group of green living enthusiasts.

Link -via reddit | Photo: LiveJournal user apocalypse_ua