One of the three Chinese pigs bred in 2006 (previously at Neatorama) has given birth to eleven piglets after mating with a normal boar. Two of the piglets inherited the gene for Green Fluorescent Protein from the mother.

"The mouths, trotters and tongues of the two piglets glow green under ultraviolet light, which indicates the technology to breed transgenic pigs via cell nuclear transfer is mature," Liu Zhonghua, a professor at Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, was quoted as saying.

The first generation of glowing pigs was produced by injecting Green Fluorescent Protein while they were embryos. Link

(image credit: Reuters)

You are probably aware of the annual hajj, or pilgrimage, to the city of Mecca, but did you know about Mount Athos, which bars women? Or Sri Pada, the mountaintop that is sacred to four religious groups? Or the cathedral which is supposed to contain the Ark of the Covenant? Check out the mental_floss post "10 Gorgeous Pilgrimage Sites Even Atheists Can Admire!" This picture shows Sri Harmandir Sahib, a Sikh site in Amritsar, India. Link

Dark Roasted Blend has a collection of the coolest lamps and light bulbs around, including this bulb that has lighted electric fireflies inside! Link -via Dump Trumpet

Xavier Enigma’s Next Physics Game. Draw your own shapes and let gravity take its toll. Circles are near impossible, but levers are easy. Link -via Fark

(note: this picture is just a screengrab of my attempt -follow the "link" to get to the game)

In 1983, at age 61, Australian farmer Cliff Young entered the 875-kilometer endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne, the world’s longest and toughest ultra-marathon.

“See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn’t afford horses or four wheel drives, and the whole time I was growing up– until about four years ago when we finally made some money and got a four wheeler– whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 head, and we have 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I’d catch them. I believe I can run this race; it’s only two more days. Five days. I’ve run sheep for three.”

The athletes left Young in the dust -at the beginning. Over five days, Young overtook every single runner to win the race! His secret? He didn’t realize all the other runners were stopping to sleep each day! Young also didn’t realize there was a $10,000 prize, which he immediately gave away to the other runners. Cliff Young became a national sensation, and now almost all the runners of the annual race run straight through without sleeping. Link -via Reddit

Cracked has published The Drunkest Generation: 10 Reasons Your Grandpa Could Drink You Under the Table. Of course, they’re not referring to your grandpa, but the culture that made it seem like he could’ve. It’s a look back at the days when drunkeness was considered not only socially acceptable, but even entertaining! Link

Remember the sustainable gingerbread house contest? Nineteen entrants took the challenge to design and build environmentally-friendly gingerbread houses. You can see them all at Terry*, with links to more pictures and information on each. Link -via The World’s Fair

Nantes, France is hosting an exhibition of mechanical sculptures by François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice (official site en français). Each sculpture is also a moving vehicle! Besides this 11-meter tall elephant, see the giant squid, deep-sea fish, and more. Link

Instructables tells you how to design your own cookie cutters! Great for shapes you’d never find in stores, like Pac Man, the Star Trek Communicator Badge, a One-up Mushroom, and Meeple. Or model some after your own interests. Link -via Dump Trumpet

Physicist Dr. Robert Lang took up origami as a hobby (featured previously at Neatorama). Who knew his hobby would lead to breakthroughs in astronomy, heart surgery, and consumer safety? You’ll be surprised at all the ways intricate paper-folding can be applied to modern technology. Damn Interesting has the story. Link

(YouTube link)

A group of 9 university students performed these “Olympic Highlights” on the Kasou Taishou(also known as Kinchan and Katori Shingo’s All Japan Costume Grand Prix) special that aired last night on NTV:

Even though we are used to amazing special effects, we can still be impressed with old-fashioned cleverness. From Japan Probe -via Random Good Stuff

Window washer Alcides Moreno fell 47 stories outside the Solow Residences in New York City on December 7th. He broke bones in his arms, legs, back, and ribs. His brother, who was working with him, was killed. Since then, Moreno has undergone 14 operations and required 24 pints of blood. But after being in a coma for weeks, Moreno is awake and talking, and is likely to walk again! From the same page:

Fell 47 stories - roughly 500 feet. Only 50% of people survive a fall from three stories.

Doctors said the highest fall they've seen someone survive in New York City was when a person under the influence of drugs survived a 19-story plunge.

Link -via YesButNoButYes

(YouTube link)
From the German TV show Wetten, dass..? {wiki}, here’s a guy throwing toilet plungers at a line of backs. I hope those guys got paid decently. -via Grow-A-Brain

Japanese Bug Fights is a website that showcases videos of different species of bugs in battle, including both insects and arachnids. Users are invited to submit videos. The rules:

1. Two Bugs to a fight
2. Bug fights go on as long as they have to
3. No outside weapons in Bug Fights

Link -via Gorilla Mask

A Norwegian-US science expedition to the South Pole of Inaccessibility found a bust of Vladimir Lenin waiting for them. The South Pole of Inaccessibility is the point in Antarctica that is furthest from the coasts, and rarely visited. A Soviet team had visited the area in 1958 and built a cabin. They perched a bust of Lenin on top of the chimney before they left several weeks later.

"Today the bust is clearly visible from many kilometres away, and remains as they left it on the chimney, although the cabin itself is buried under the snow," the explorers say.

The actual South Pole is 878 kilometers from the Inaccessibility Pole. Since a moving glacier covers Antarctica, the location of the South Pole is recalibrated and moved every few years. Link -via Fark