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Is this weird or what? This optical illusion known as Ames' Window was developed by Adelbert Ames, Jr. {wiki} Just watching it made me dizzy! -via reddit

Andre chewed off his front left and rear left paws to escape an illegal trap he encountered in Alaska. He then lived for weeks hiding under a camper shell. The Shepherd-Rottweiler-Lab mix was taken in by Alaskan Dog and Puppy Rescue, who contacted a company named OrthoPets to see if they could help. A year later, Andre has received his prosthetic legs in Denver, Colorado. Martin Kaufmann of OrthoPets says Andre stood up just two days after his new legs were attached.

"This is the first time that Andre has been able to stand on four legs in over a year and a few months now, so it will be an interesting challenge as he learns, instead of having to survive with two legs how he can actually thrive on all four," said Kaufmann.

For a second he hesitated, and then Andre hopped up and started running around like any dog with four legs would.

"It's just such an amazing moment to see this guy who's learned how to be very adaptive on two legs and watch how fast he's able to go back to four legs. Just feels good to see he's able to be normal again, such a proud moment," Kaufmann said.

Andre will go up for adoption in a few weeks. Link -via Arbroath

Montanara is the name given to this amazing sofa upholstered with mountains and waterfalls designed by Gaetano Pesce. Link -via Gearfuse

Engineers at the University of California at Berkeley have developed remote-control beetles that can be used as spies! They aren't just robots, either. These are cyborgs, real beetles that have implanted electrodes that control their flight muscles.

With the mind of a machine and the nimble body of an insect, this bug-bot may be the perfect scout: inexpensive, expendable, and capable of surreptitious reconnaissance. The Berkeley researchers, led by Michael Maharbiz, note that beetles are strong enough to carry useful payloads, such as a miniature camera.

Link -via Digg

(image credit: Hirotaka Sato and Michel M. Maharbiz, U. C. Berkeley)

91 members with four LED lights each, this chandelier was designed by Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn. It's very energy-efficient for the amount of light it provides. Link -via Swiss Miss

Hospital Food is a photo blog to which people submit photographs of hospital meals. The places they come from aren't always identified, but from the looks of things, you want to be hospitalized in France to get a really decent meal. The Asian meals look pretty good, too. Others aren't so appetizing. The meal pictured was served in a Polish hospital. Link -via Buzzfeed

English explorer Henry Hudson set foot on an island called Mannahatta 400 years ago. The Manhatta Project has recreated the island as it appeared in 1609, with forests, wetlands, and a vast array of wildlife. See views of Manhattan side-by-side with a computer recreation of what it looked like before it became a city. Link -via mental_floss

(Image credit: Markley Boyer, Mannahatta Project/Wildlife Conservation Society)

You've heard of X-men, but do you remember Doom Patrol?

Unlike the X-Men, the Doom Patrollers were once normal people who suffered an accident that disfigured them but also gave them superpowers. Shunned by the world for just being plain ugly, the freaks were gathered by Doctor Caulder, a paraplegic, who thought that maybe the world wouldn't dislike them so much if they used their powers to save the normal people's asses from giant robots once in a while.

If this sounds somewhat familiar to you, it's because the same thing as X-Men with the only difference that the smart guy in the wheelchair was bald in one and X-Men uses mutants as an allegory for minorities instead of people with elephantiasis or whatever the heck Doom Patrol was going for.

Cracked looks at six famous characters and their lesser-known precursors. I knew about The Lion King, but I was unfamiliar with the rest. Oh, I knew the last one, too, but I didn't know how much they had in common. Link

What do they call that weird cap with the ragged spikes and various decorations attached? You've seen it in old movies, TV shows, and advertisements. It's been called by many names: a fedora beanie, jagged beanies, Whoopee cap, palookaville caps, devils caps, clubhouse hats, and Kingpins. I'm Learning to Share takes a look at how the style developed in the early part of the 20th century. Link -via Metafilter

Have you ever really taken a good look at US currency? In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you'll be shown the buildings on the backs of US bills. Can you match each to the correct denomination? I scored 60% due to educated guessing, since I don't usually have any cash. You will do better! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25083

This 2004 short story by Vincent Eaton tells of his experience with a tapeworm. This is not for hypochondriacs or those disturbed by bathroom scenes. Guaranteed to make you cook your meat just a little longer.

I headed directly to the pharmacist, purchased the pill, took it home, created an altar, placed it there and worshipped it for forty-five minutes as the answer to all my dreams and prayers. "Oh mighty pill, death to the demon residing within..."

Next morning I popped out of bed, got myself a glass of water, removed the pill from its altar cushion, placed it on my tongue, closed my eyes, and swallowed, declaring, "Take that, monster of the deep! You neverending strand of unspooling spaghetti!" I smacked my lips and thought that was that.

It wasn't.

The story concludes with an invitation to share your stories of parasites. There are dozens of pages of contributions. Link -via reddit

(image credit: Chris Bishop)

Jim Andrews of Chicago is on a mission to open a chain of hot dog stands and hire ex-convicts to give them a new start in life. That's a noble aim, but some neighbors object to the name he chose for the business. Felony Franks uses a hot dog behind bars as its logo.

2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti likes the idea of employing ex-felons but hates the name.

He thinks the name and the sign glorify crime.

"Felony Franks? The home of the misdemeanor wiener? Food so good it's criminal? You are actually in a sense elevating the life of crime here in our city and we cannot tolerate that."

John Hunt, an ex-felon who lives several block away, agrees with the alderman.

"It's a good thing if he's going to hire ex-felons because... that's a beautiful thing. But the name? He should change the name... Felony Franks is still making me feel like a felon."

Andrews plans to open his first stand next month. Link -via Unique Daily

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A big squirrel jumps the wall easily, but baby squirrel is having trouble making it. He needs a little help! -via Bits and Pieces

Bat World has stories of bats in care that are injured, sick, or have been rescued from bad situations. Read about Van Gogh, who is missing an ear; Mr. Kitty, who was brought in by a cat; and Pongo, who became stuck on the wrong side of the ocean. Pictured is Bootsana, a fruit bat rejected by her mother. She loves her pacifier!

For the first 10 weeks of her life Bootsana carried a soft puppy nurser (her pacifier) in her mouth all the time and yelled whenever she dropped it. She continued to yell - almost brat-like - until someone placed it back into her mouth. At around 10 weeks of age she decided banana was better than a nurser, so solid food (which she also yelled for) was slowly introduced. Every day Bootsana was also given flapping exercises, as much as she enjoyed.

You can sponsor the care of these bats through their Adopt-a-Bat program. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Geographers from Kansas State University have plotted the seven deadly sins of the nation. They began with Nevada only, but expanded the project for the entire United States, using statistics for each county on crime, income, STDs, and other data. They call it "a precision party trick — rigorous mapping of ridiculous data." The results show that the area I live in (Southeast Kentucky) is only high in gluttony, which is calculated by the number of fast-food restaurants per capita. At the link, you can pull up a map of each of the seven deadly sins. In this map of the lust "hot spots", red is above average, while blue is below average. Link -via Metafilter