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Teddy bears attempt to cross a busy street. Another gem from the incomprehensible but fertile mind of Cyriak. Link to artist's website. -via Arbroath

This chart from the utility company EPCOR contrasts water consumption in Edmonton, Alberta on two different days. February 27th is charted to show a normal day. February 28th was the day Canada won the Olympic gold medal hockey game. As you can see, a huge percentage of their customers waited for breaks in the game to "go". Link -via reddit

Giants once roamed the earth, meaning many species of animals that are familiar to us have enormous extinct ancestors. Cracked looks at seven of them, some of which have been previously featured individually at Neatorama. Take a look at Argentavis magnificens.

As if answering the dare to make us feel more inadequate, the world gave us Argentavis magnificens, the largest flying bird in recorded history. These beasts possessed a wingspan between 19- and 26-feet, and a wing area of 75-feet, which you may notice is only slightly smaller than a Lear Jet. In addition to its staggering size and 240-pound weight, the bird is believed to have swallowed prey as large as cattle in one fell swoop.

Link -via Gorilla Mask

If explorer Amerigo Vespucci were alive, he'd be 556 years old today. Born on March 9th, 1454, Vespucci was neither the first European to reach the New World nor the first to take back news of it, but he was the first to realize that the western hemisphere was not part of Asia or any part of the world known to Europeans. Vespucci's discovery coincided with the rise of the printing press, which made world maps available to more than a few people.

Martin Waldseemüller, a modernist-humanist German clergyman and cartographer, reprinted “The Four Voyages of Amerigo” in 1507 with his own “Cosmographic Introduction.” He opined:

I see no reason why anyone should justly object to calling this part … America, after Amerigo [Vespucci], its discoverer, a man of great ability.

Waldseemüller included a map of the the new lands, on which the name “America” makes its earliest appearance.

The map was popular. The name caught on, and it stuck.

And it spread. America was first used as a name for only the southern continent of the New World, but Gerardus Mercator’s 1538 world map included both North America and South America.

And that is precisely why many of us live in America instead of Christopha or Columbia. Link

We know that scurvy is a disease caused by lack of vitamin C. In the Middle Ages, ship captains knew that fresh fruit, particularly citrus, would fend off scurvy, which had been the scourge of long sea voyages. Scottish physician James Lind uncovered the citrus cure scientifically in 1747, but vitamin C was still unknown. In 1799, all British Royal Navy ships were ordered to serve lemon juice, but in time the method of preventing scurvy was changed until it was no longer effective, and no one knew why.

It fell to the unfortunate George Nares to discover this fact in 1875, when he led the British Arctic Expedition in an attempt to reach the North Pole via Greenland. Some oceanographic theories of the time posited an open polar sea, and Nares was directed to sail along the Greenland coast, then take a sledging party and see how far north he could get on the pack ice.

The expedition was a fiasco. Two men in the sledging party developed scurvy within days of leaving the ship. Within five weeks, half the men were sick, and despite having laid depots with plentiful supplies for their return journey, they were barely able to make it back. A rescue party sent to intercept them found that lime juice failed to have its usual dramatic effect. Most damning of all, some of the men who stayed on the ship, never failing to take their daily dose, also got scurvy.

Afterward, some doctors thought scurvy must be due to food poisoning or even a contagious infection. Vitamin C was finally isolated in 1932. The tragic story of how the cure for scurvy was lost and then found again is detailed in a fascinating article at Idle Words. Link -via Metafilter

(image credit: Flickr user Paul Denton Cocker)

The spelling challenges in today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will not be found in your local school bee! However, if you are really familiar with American TV and movies, you should do well. Luckily, it's a multiple-choice quiz. I scored 75% -try to beat that! Link

The unnamed artist, a friend of a reddit member, buys thrift shop art and adds silly details. I have just the place in my home for a painting like this! You'll find links to other paintings in the comments at reddit. Link

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Neil Fraser wondered if a lava lamp would still work in the higher gravity environment of Jupiter. How such a question ever occurs to anyone is a matter of wonder in itself, but Fraser went ahead and built a ten-foot wide centrifuge in his living room to conduct the experiment to answer his question.

The centrifuge is a genuinely terrifying device. The lights dim when it is switched on. A strong wind is produced as the centrifuge induces a cyclone in the room. The smell of boiling insulation emanates from the overloaded 25 amp cables. If not perfectly adjusted and lubricated, it will shred the teeth off solid brass gears in under a second. Runs were conducted from the relative safety of the next room while peeking through a crack in the door.

Highlight this text for a spoiler: Yes, the lava lamp worked in 3G. Link -via Digg

Sam Loman created a map of the human body's systems using the style of a subway map. The different systems are color-coded as both anatomy books and trains maps are. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Underskin/433072 -via Laughing Squid

The Iditarod dogsled race begins this Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska and spans 1,100 miles. 27-year-old Newton Marshall is among the 70 entrants and will represent his home country, Jamaica. Marshall used to train in Jamaica on a wheeled sled pulled by stray dogs from the local shelter. He now trains in Alaska with world-class sled dogs.

Singer Jimmy Buffett is among Marshall's strongest supporters. "He's absolutely a hero to kids in Jamaica," Buffett said.

Buffett's Margaritaville restaurants are key sponsors for Marshall's dog-sled team, and the famed songwriter says he did not hesitate to back Marshall after learning of his story. Buffett first heard of the Jamaican after meeting Danny Melville, who runs a family-owned tour business in Jamaica where Marshall was employed as a guide.

"I thought from the beginning it was just very cool what he was doing," Buffett said. "I thought it was so far out there, but it made people smile when they heard about it."

Marshall competed in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest in 2009, becoming the first Jamaican to finish that race. Link -via Fark

(image credit: Eppo Eerkes)

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There's a lot going on in a small garden pond! Mirko Faienza blends beautiful macrophotography and music in My Father's Garden. -via Metafilter

Artist Shauna Richardson produces trophy animals by crochet! She has been commissioned to produce three giant crocheted lions to be displayed at the 2012 Olympic games in London. http://www.dazeddigital.com/view/default.aspx?Category=22&ArticleID=6452&PageNum=1 to interview. http://www.shaunarichardson.com/studio/studio-1.php to artist's site. -via Everlasting Blort

Lawrence and Kerryn Munro were walking with their dogs along the White Umfolzi River in South Africa. When they stopped to dip their feet in the water, a ten foot long crocodile grabbed Lawrence by the ankles!

Mr Munro, 33, said: "It was a matter of seconds. I grabbed hold of the rocks and started kicking the croc with my right foot. He let go and grabbed again, getting hold of both feet. I tried to get to my rifle, but I had been dragged closer to the water and couldn't reach it. Kerryn grabbed under my arm and around my neck and started pulling. Eventually the croc let go.

"My two-way radio had come loose and fallen into the river during the struggle so we couldn't call for help," he told the Mercury newspaper.

After pulling her husband free, Mrs Munro ran to the Makhamisa Base Camp for help. Mr Munro was airlifted to hospital in nearby Richards Bay, where he underwent operations to repair tendons in his right foot.

Kerryn Munro, who is five months pregnant, is resting up after the incident. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Flickr user Pandiyan)

You never know when you will be called upon to act the hero. For Andy Ingham of Canterbury, England, that time came as he was dressed as a gorilla! Ingham was promoting his gym business by handing out free passes and bananas to passers-by on February 18th. Meanwhile, police were chasing a suspect over a bridge. A female officer tried to arrest the man, but he pushed her down on the bridge and fled.

Mr Ingham said: “When you are in a gorilla suit it is quite hard to see out of it to begin with. You actually have to hold someone’s hand as you walk along otherwise you fall over.

“If I had been able to see I would have rugby-tackled him, but I also had my hands full of bags. So as he ran towards me I jumped in front of him and gave him a really good kick in the legs to try and trip him up so someone else could jump on him.

“He stumbled and nearly fell over and tried to run off down the road, at which point he was apprehended by the rest of the police and taken away.”

The 24-year-old suspect was charged with assault and resisting arrest. http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Gorillaman-swings-to-the-rescue-of-woman-cop-newsinkent33403.aspx -via Arbroath

(image credit: Jenny Armstrong)

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Om nom nom! This wild bunny lives only temporarily at a Animal Advocates wildlife rehabilitation center in Los Angeles. It will be released back to nature when it's old enough. Don't miss the washing up at the end! -via Cynical-C