YouTube link.

This program, from the Cambridge University Channel, features Dr. Alan Tunnacliffe as he explains some of the extraordinary biology of rotifers.  A previous Neatorama post explained that these creatures have survived for 85 million years without having sex; one relevant adaptation is that they can directly incorporate the genetic code of other organisms into their own to form a mosaic DNA.  There are a number of "wow factors" in this brief presentation, including the ability of rotifers to withstand extensive desiccation and extreme temperatures.

YouTube link.

In order to investigate how sperm of two different males compete within the reproductive tract of the female, a researcher at Syracuse University used a fluorescent tag to be able to directly visualize the movement of individual sperm.

Mollie Manier managed to set up live broadcasts of the sperm wars. She engineered male flies whose sperm was loaded with proteins that glow either red or green. By following these glows with a special microscope, Manier captured astounding and beautiful videos of the sperm racing around the female’s genital tract at high speed, like miniature formula-one cars.

Link.  Previously on Neatorama:  The Great Sperm Race.

The blue elements in the image above appear to be a arranged in a continuous spiral, but in fact they form a series of concentric circles.  Your brain will argue so strongly for a spiral that you may need to run your mouse cursor around the circles a few times to convince yourself.

Image credit to Akiyoshi Kitaoka 2009. Via Moillusions.

Pictured above is a "slashed army t-shirt" available from Net-a-Porter.com.

Go for stylishly dishevelled cool in Balmain's olive green distressed detail cotton t-shirt. Work the runway look by teaming this statement staple with cargo pants and ankle boots for a luxe spin on utility chic.

It costs $1,625.  But you can try it on at home, and if it doesn't fit "return shipping is free."

Link.

YouTube link.

Jack Dumbacher, an ornithologist at the California Academy of Science, describes the discovery of and studies of a neurotoxin produced by this bird from New Guinea.  The batrachotoxin that the bird produces is a sodium-channel blocker that is chemically identical to the neurotoxin used by poison dart frogs, and it is potentially lethal in higher doses.  One assumes that this evolved as a deterrent to predation, so it's interesting that like monarchs and other toxic butterflies, this bird exhibits a strikingly bright warning coloration.

YouTube link.

In 1987 this Canadian production won the Academy Award for the Best Animated Short Film, and in 1994 was voted by animation artists to be one of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time.  Embedded above is part 2 of three parts, which demonstrates the style and representative content of the film.  Those who are interested will of course want to view Part 1 and Part 3.  This English version is narrated by Christopher Plummer.

Facebook link

During the filming of an infomercial for Russian television, the presenters fail to take into account the wide angle of the camera lens when they "sharpen" the scissors.  See if you can spot the substitution (it's not subtle).

Via Arbroath.

YouTube link.

In the 1920s and 1930s, censorship of movies was often goverened by local boards, and achieved by snipping the scenes from the film reels.  It won't surprise anyone that those clipped film segments were sometimes saved.  Here a number of them have been assembled into a montage, which was submitted to the 2007 72 Hour Film Festival in Frederick, Maryland.

Censors of that period seem to have been particularly interested in feet.  The video is probably safe for work (depending on where you work).

Several days after purchasing a highly venomous cobra, a German teenager discovered that it was no longer in its terrarium.

What followed was one of the lengthiest and most expensive pet-hunts Germany has seen in recent years. The walls, floor and ceiling of O's attic apartment were dismantled and the two units on the ground floor below were also carefully searched. Flour was strewn on the floor in the hopes of collecting tracks. Strong, double-sided tape was installed to perhaps trap the cobra baby. The fire department even brought in mini-cameras to search the tightest and most inaccessible corners.

After the fire department removed and examined all the furniture, a construction company was called in to demolish the apartment.  The house has now been sealed, and other renters in the building have been told they will need to live elsewhere for two months while the cobra (hopefully) starves.  The cost of these interventions is well above €40,000; German authorities will apparently send the bills to the young snake enthusiast.

Link.  Credit for photo of the redecorated apartment to ddp.

In 1954, Glasgow's Southern Necropolis (The City of the Dead) was the scene of a series of bizarre events in which local children gathered to hunt the Gorbals Vampire.

Hundreds of children aged from four to 14, some of them armed with knives and sharpened sticks, were patrolling inside the historic graveyard.  They were, they told the bemused constable, hunting a 7ft tall vampire with iron teeth who had already kidnapped and eaten two local boys.

The children's behavior resulted in a "moral panic" among adults, who blamed American comic books - especially Tales From The Crypt.

The government responded to the clamour by introducing the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 which, for the first time, specifically banned the sale of magazines and comics portraying "incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature" to minors.

Now several participants in the 1954 vampire hunt are reporting that when they were children, some Glasgow parents threatened children with an "Iron Man" bogeyman, and the only monsters with iron teeth were in the Bible (Daniel 7:7) and in a school poem; when they were students they didn't even have access to comic books or to television.

Link. Photo credit.

Even the best-designed boat anchors are suboptimal in their holding power; when they drag across the floor of a lake or ocean they can do extensive damage to their surroundings.  Now researchers at MIT have developed the prototype of an anchor that drills into the sediment using the same mechanism employed by a clam.

The clam first wiggles a fleshy foot into the sand below and pushes its shelled body upward. This creates a tiny pocket of space under the shell, which sucks in both water and sand. At the same time, it clamps shut its shell with a pronounced twitch that creates more slick slurry, while pumping blood into the extended foot.

The RoboClam prototype is powered by compressed air; production models will have internal power sources and will be able to "unset" themselves with minimal disruption of the seabed.

Link, and related video.  Photo: RoboClam on the right, and a razor clam on the left. (Donna Coveney/MIT)

YouTube link.

In this clever and engaging video, the warmth of natural gas heat is visualized through the use of stop-motion animation of knitted wool.   The Belgian group that executed this commercial also offers a companion piece documenting how it was created; the most impressive aspect is that the knitting is real - not computer graphics.

Via Craft:

As noted in a story earlier today, the Indian military announced that it has successfully weaponized the world's hottest chili - the bhut jolokia.  They claim that when placed in grenades it will be an effective weapon because it will "choke terrorists and force them out of their hide-outs."

Their announcement not surprisingly did not mention the fact that last year an Indian woman, Anadita Dutta Tamuly, entered the Guiness Book of Records by eating 51 of those famous peppers.  After the completion of her dietary feat, Ms. Tamuly then smeared handfuls of the seeds into her eyes.

Link.

Frank Solomon (Solent News & Photo Agency) captured this image of an impala at Kruger National Park in South Africa.  One observer commented that the animal appears to be carrying around its own dreamcatcher.

Link, via Unique Daily.

Addendum:  A hat tip to Bodkin, who recognized in this impala a real-life counterpart to Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose.

American music critic Alex Ross recently presented a Royal Philharmonic Society lecture in which he addressed the etiquette of applauding (or not) during symphony concerts.

“In the eighteenth century listeners often burst into applause while the music was playing, much as patrons in jazz clubs do today.  The practice seems to have died out in the course of the nineteenth century, although audiences almost always applauded after movements of large-scale works.  Then, in the early years of the twentieth century, the idea took root that one should remain resolutely silent throughout a multi-movement piece. By imposing such a code, we may inadvertently be confining the enormous and diverse expressive energies that are contained within the classics of the repertory. The work itself should dictate our behaviour, not some hard-and-fast code of etiquette.”

He notes that many classical composers actually expected applause during the course of a concert, and he is supportive of patrons (especially "newbies" at symphonies) who applaud at "incorrect" times, directing his criticism instead at those who "shush" the newcomers.

People who applaud in the “wrong place”— usually the right place, in terms of the composer’s intentions— are presumably not in the habit of attending concerts regularly. They may well be attending for the first time. Having been hissed at, they may never attend again. And let’s remember that shushing is itself noise. I often hear “Shhhh!” from another part of the hall without having heard whatever minor disturbance elicited it. In an ironic twist, these self-appointed prefects of the parterre — or gods of the gods — have made themselves more of a nuisance than those whom they are righteously reprimanding. There is something dismaying about this narrow-eyed watchfulness on the part of connoisseurs and this fearfulness on the part of neophytes.

Link, via (whence the photo credit).