Today is the holiday we call Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada, but it was once Armistice Day, a day commemorating the end of World War I. How much do you know about the holiday and its history? Find out in today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. I scored 80%, better than the current average of 59%. Link

Vietnamese herpetologist Ngo Van Tri noticed something strange about the tanks of lizards at the small diners in the village of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. They were all female, which is odd for the species Leiolepis ngovantrii, which is what they were thought to be. So he called a friend and fellow scientist at La Sierra University in California.

Dr. Lee Grismer and his son, Jesse Grismer, a doctoral candidate, flew all the way to Hanoi and then faced a grueling two-day motorcycle trip out to a restaurant where the owner promised to set aside a stash of the creatures for study.

But there was a little problem, says Grismer.

"Unfortunately, the owner wound up getting drunk, and grilled them all up for his patrons... so when we got there, there was nothing left."

Faced with an empty tank and nearly dashed hopes, the men asked around at other cafes in the area for the local delicacy, and hired children to track down as many of the lizards as they could find.

What they received were 60 females -of a previously unknown lizard species that reproduces without males! Still, Grismer was obliged to eat some lizards to show proper etiquette to the local restaurant. How does it taste?

"You take a bite out of it and it feels like something very old and dead in your mouth," he said.

Link -via Fark

(Image credit: Lee Grismer/La Sierra University)

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A 275-foot smokestack was demolished and fell the wrong wrong way today in Springfield, Ohio. The tower brought down power lines and crushed equipment. There were no injuries, but 8,000 people were left without power. Link -via Metafilter

Selfy the Self-Making Bed




Railroads reduced travel time to days; airplanes to hours. But in today's fast-paced world, time-savers are measured in minutes and seconds. Behold the arrival of "Selfy," the bed that makes itself, which reportedly saves you a full 15 seconds a day. That adds up to 105 seconds a week, or 98 minutes a year -precisely the length of time you would need to watch the 1986 film Short Circuit, starring Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy. See how Selfy helps you make the most of your time?

Dust Mop Slippers




Dust mop slippers are booties with cotton fibers on their soles that are designed to pick up any dirt or dust collecting on your floor. (We're guessing your floors are pretty filthy if you're the type to buy this sort of thing.) Curiously, getting drunk may actually leave your apartment in better shape.

The Pet Petter

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For 20- and 30-somethings, caring for a dog is often a meaningful step toward parenthood. But saddled with long and inflexible work hours, many in this age group just don't have the time. That's where the Pet Petter comes in. Developed by Kentuckian Anthony Steffen, the Pet Petter literally lends dog owners a helping hand. As a robotic arm swings back and forth, the contraption will coo sweet nothings into your doggie's ear.

The Cruzin Cooler




Beer, the muse of lazy technology, must have inspired the Cruzin Cooler, a motorized scooter attached to a cooler. In their mission statement, the inventors claim that the cooler "combines two basic necessities of life: the ability to have cold food or a beverage handy along with the means to get somewhere, without walking." You might be wondering, wouldn't a device like this encourage drinking and driving? It's likely. In June 2008, a man driving a Cruzin Cooler in New York was arrested and charged with DWI.

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The article above, written by Adam Rosen, is reprinted with permission from Scatterbrained section of the Mar/Apr 2009 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss' website and blog for more fun stuff!

Think a minute -when did the first remote-control robot hit the market? It was way back in 1957 in Japan. This is a Radicon Robot, still in good shape 53 years later. It sold for almost $9,000 on eBay! But it is far from the most expensive collectible antique toy in this list of the 15 Most Expensive Vintage Toys Ever Sold On Ebay.com. http://www.tonkatruck.net/15-most-expensive-vintage-toys-ever-sold-on-ebay-com/ -Thanks, Danny!

If you've ever received a disappointing, odd, or incomprehensible gift, you can make yourself feel better about it by checking out the blog Why Did You Buy Me That? (subtitled "a collection of the worst gifts ever received"). It might make your gift look better. If it doesn't, take a picture and submit it! Link -via Metafilter

Holy Juan spotted this sign in a public restroom. There's always a downside to doing the green thing, but if you're good at sound effects, you can get away with it! Link

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It's a river of people! Over 40,000 runners participated in the New York City Marathon last weekend. Thanks to time-lapse videography, you can watch most of them get started. -via Buzzfeed

The show must go on, even though the actors don't get paid, and even though the audience is there for only a few seconds each week. A group of performers in Chicago stage a skit on a rooftop for the commuters on the the Brown Line of the El, between Armitage and Sedgwick.

Turns out, every Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m., these three friends put on a new skit atop the four-story parking garage for the Brown Line passengers who pass by.

On this particular Wednesday, the actors were indeed performing an original skit about Frankenstein and a mad scientist.

"Look at me, look me in the eyes Frankenstein," said the actor playing the mad scientist, during a performance. (Of course, no one on the el could hear the words, but the actors' actions pretty much explained the scene.)

"Argh, argh, argh!" said Frankenstein.

The three actors go by the name of CTA Theater, and they've been performing for riders for six months, every single week, just to make people happy. Riders who catch their show say they love the performances, no matter how short. Link -Thanks, Jeff!

Kansas State University professor Mark Haub ate a Twinkies every three hours for ten weeks and lost 27 pounds! His cholesterol numbers improved as well. Haub put himself through this horrible regimen to prove a point: weight loss is all about caloric intake, not the type of food you eat. James Plafke at Geekosystem explains:

When I first started working out, I couldn’t gain weight no matter what I tried. I asked a large amount of people at the few gyms I attended at the time, and the advice received has always stuck out: Eat everything. The first (extremely in-shape) person I asked told me to buy a box of bakery cupcakes from the local grocery store and eat that after lunch a few times a week. The next (very ripped and cut) person I asked told me he ate a tub of chocolate pudding a few times a week after dinner. The message was clear: So long as you’re correctly working out, the type of food you eat doesn’t matter as much as you may think.

Of course, there's a lot more to the story. Link

Animals communicate with each other in ways we can't imagine, but there are a few we've figured out. Oh, we can't translate everything yet, but we know how some do it. Environmental Graffiti looks at five animals that have their own languages. For example, some frogs chatter away in a language we can't even hear!

The frogs’ calls have to compete with other animals’ loud signals. These calls are perceived as very loud to humans. However, there are frogs that communicate only through ultrasound. Their frequency is too high for the human ear to hear. The Huia cavitympanum species that lives in Borneo is the only species known to man that communicates only through high-pitched sounds.

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If you were to be buried in one of the unusual cemeteries in this list, people would visit your grave whether they cared about you or not! Some are beautiful, some scary, and some are just plain weird. One that I would really like to see is the Bridge to Paradise.

The Bridge to Paradise, in the Xcaret Nature and Cultural Park, is quite an intriguing Mexican cemetery. Its structure is based on the Gregorian calendar: the cemetery simulates a hill with seven levels representing the days of the week and 365 colorful tombs on the outside depicting the days of the year. The main entrance is a stairway with 52 steps that represent the weeks of the year.

Each grave is different from the others in design and building materials. One might look like a replica of a famous cathedral, while the next one looks like a sofa or a bed with headboard and pillows.

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Rob Cockerham posted the Incredibly Depressing Mega Millions Lottery Simulator a month ago, so you'd think he would be the type to avoid gambling. However, he won a costume contest for one of his over-the-top creations and the prize was $1,000 -in slot machine play! Therefore, win or lose, he sat down to play and report to us on the experience.

Thunder Valley has eight "100% payback" slots, which means that at the end of their life, they should have given out the same amount of money they took in. This group had some interesting features, the first was a bright sign on top, advertising "win up to 100% payback". What? What kind of deal is that? It sounds like the worst of both worlds, like you had no chance of going away a winner. I figured the sign was just not worded very well, that they wanted to say "100% payback", but that a sign which said that sounds like you are always going to win your money back.

The second feature was a small placard which stated "This game is not eligible for the Thunder Slot Fortune Bonus".

Ah ha! Maybe I'm a sucker, but to me, this sign says "the casino makes so little money on this machine, we can't let you have any other perks for sitting here". BINGO. This was the machine for me!

Try to guess how much he won with his $1,000 credit. Link

In this educational game, you don't go for points; you just try not to kill the patient! You'll learn many things about brain surgery in the process, thanks to the surgeon who guides you. Those who are very squeamish may want to pass, but the patient is a cartoon so it's not too scary. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

Jones Soda, the folks who brought you a turkey-flavored soft drink, is offering a limited run of bacon flavored soda. They've teamed up with J&D's Foods to offer a gift pack featuring two bottles of soda with bacon popcorn and bacon gravy for $9.95 plus shipping. Bacon... where will it all end? Link to story. Link to product. -Thanks, Waldo (wherever you are)!