Who are the best pop culture scientists? Meaning, the ones that are smart, accurately portrayed, and are not trying to take over the world. Den of Geek ranks twenty of them on intelligence and ethics, plus how they represent real scientists. There are some caveats, because movies and TV differ so much. How do you compare a character on a sitcom who happens to be a scientist to one who saves the world in a film? You may disagree with the results, but it’s nice to take a closer look at the scientist characters they selected and an explanation of why they ranked where they do.
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
When we posted the trailer for the potential movie Kung Fury a year-and-a-half ago, we described it thusly:
Kung Fury is a trailer that would like to be a real movie someday. Kung Fury is a cop who's also a martial arts master. He travels through time to defeat Hitler, with the help of Vikings -and dinosaurs! It's a sendup of '80s cop movies, with any movie trope that was ever (or might be) vaguely successful thrown in. I'd watch it. You know you would, too. Written and directed by Swedish filmmaker David Sandberg (Laser Unicorns), who also stars as Kung Fury.
That's pretty much the size of it. The idea got everyone so excited that internet backers raised over half a million dollars to fund the movie, which is now a full 30-minute story, available here and now. If you are in Sweden and cannot access the YouTube video, see it here.
The music soundtrack is available here, and the video for "True Survivor" by David Hasselhoff is here. Sandberg says he will have a feature-length movie ready in the next three years. -via reddit
In 1835 a laborer in England accidentally broke through the ground into a series of subterranean chambers covered with mosaics made from seashells- millions of them. The site was purchased and turned into a tourist attraction, but its origins are still a mystery almost 200 years later.
Shell grottoes of this type were extremely popular in the Europe of the 1700s. Many suppose that this was the result of a local bigwig embarking on the Grand Tour and returning with a desire to recreate a highlight of his or her European expedition. Yet although this is not without the realms of possibility, the land above the grotto never formed part of any large estate, which is where you would expect such an extravagance to be positioned – close enough to the big house to easily chaperone curious guests to its confines. These visitors would be impressed both by the owner’s wealth and aesthetics because, frankly, this kind of thing was built to do both.
Why would anyone build such an elaborate grotto and keep it a secret? Your guess is as good as mine, but you can find out what we do know, and see lots of pictures at Kuriositas. -via Digg
(Image credit: Flickr user Ben Sutherland)
Changing the shape of one’s skull is shockingly simple. The cranial bones of an infant or young child are pretty soft and take years to knit together. Applying pressure during that time can reshape the skull, which becomes permanent when the bones reach maximum growth and then harden. The practice doesn’t appear to affect cognitive function. And what’s most amazing is that different cultures around the world have been independently doing cranial modification from antiquity all the way up to the present.
Until the early 1900s, a form of artificial cranial deformation was still taking place in Western France, in Deux-Sevres. Known as the Toulouse deformity, the practice of bandeau was common amongst the French peasantry. A baby's head would be tightly bound and padded, to protect it from accidental impacts. At around the same time, the practice was still occurring in Russia and the Caucasus, as well as in Scandinavia.
It turns out that altering the shape of one's head is not shockingly unique; it's incredibly common, across time and geography. Its meaning isn't fixed, so understanding why and how it happens can reveal much about the societies who choose to change the shape of their heads.
Atlas Obscura looks at several of those cultures and indeed the very universality of deliberate cranial modification. -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: photographer unknown, restoration by Didier Descouens)
YouTube celebrates ten years of viral videos with an alphabetic salute to the different types of videos that made it a success. There are dozens and dozens of video references that go by fast, but there are barely any that I’m not familiar with -which just goes to show how much I’ve been living on the internet over the past decade. Try to guess what will represent the next letter of the alphabet before you get to it, if you must, but you won’t guess any that are better than the ones chosen. -via Tastefully Offensive
Kuku Kube is a game of perception. All you have to do is select the square that’s a different shade from all the others. It starts easy, of course, and becomes more difficult as you go along. And yeah, you will be timed. The highest score I got was a 30, but I might have done better with my glasses on. -via Buzzfeed
This is what happens when you get bored at your office job. Let’s hope Bruno Mosconi Ruy’s boss has a sense of humor when he sees this video go viral. There was a suggestion for improving the monster, but I don’t know how you’d make that work in moving pictures. -via reddit
The whole time they are growing up, parents can’t help but speculate on what their child will end up doing with their life. There may come a day when you settle on the dream that's best for your child and everyone around him. This is the latest fantasy from Lunarbaboon.
(Image credit: Daniel J. Prostak)
Bill Zender is the ultimate gambling insider. The former professional card counter, dealer, and casino floor manager shares his secrets—and explains why the best paying machine is always the ATM.
1. Identify the clumsiest dealers.
Zender estimates there are fewer than 100 professional blackjack card counters in the world. If you happen to be one of them, you might nab a 1.5 percent advantage. So save your energy, Zender advises; instead keep an eye out for the sloppy blackjack dealer who will accidentally flash the face-down card. Zender once made a living exploiting this, keeping a notebook of 35 weak dealers from 16 different casinos. The strategy is called “card holing,” and it can give you a 6 to 9 percent edge over the house. (That’s like standing in front of an ATM that spits out twenties!) The best part? “It’s totally legal,” Zender says. “They may throw me out of the casino, but they’re not going to arrest me.”
2. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Lately, casinos have sexed up their table games with bikini-clad dealers and resident pole dancers. These places are called Party Pits, and on the surface, they look like Vegas being Vegas—booze, sin, skin. But look closer. While all those twirling legs keep you distracted, you’ll probably fail to notice that the casino trimmed the payouts at these tables from 3/2 to 6/5. Meaning that a $100 bet wins only $120, compared to the traditional $150. This essentially doubles the house’s edge.
3. Know when to say when.
The house always enjoys a 5 percent edge at roulette. You have a decent chance of winning that first spin. And the second. And the third. But if you were to play roulette forever, the house would take away all your chips. Every casino has calculated the point at which they are guaranteed victory, and that magic number is 30,000 hands. (This is why they lure us back with lobster and luxury suites.) So if you’re winning, stop.
4. Exploit the laws of nature.
Can pigeons distinguish between good and bad art? Does a full bladder make you more confused? Is yawning contagious …in tortoises? John Green tells us about scientific research that makes you want to scratch your head, but often the aim is to determine ideas -or even parts of ideas- that aren’t evident on the surface. Another question: does John Green have as much trouble saying “dental floss” correctly as I do?
A guy sings a duet with his cat Chaninho. You’ll recognize the song, even though it's sung in Portuguese. "If you're happy and you know it, say meow." Chaninho has his part down perfectly. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
The moral of this story is that if you give a dog some meatballs, he’ll do anything for you. I don’t know what that has to do with banking, but it’s a cute story from a Thai bank ad.
(Checks tranlastion) Oh, the moral of the story is that a small investment can pay off big in the future. I didn’t get that the first time around because I’m not particularly savvy about finances. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.
Some are funny, some touching, some fitting. Always interesting. The final words of 24 famous people.
“I’m bored with it all." -Winston Churchill
“Love one another." -George Harrison
“I love you, honey. Good luck with your show.” -Desi Arnaz (said on the phone to ex-wife Lucille Ball)
“Is everyone else alright?" -Robert F. Kennedy
“I’m going away tonight" -James Brown
“That's funny" -Doc Holliday (Looking at his bare feet. As a gunslinger, he always thought he would die with his boots on.)
“Is it not meningitis?" -Louisa May Alcott
“Water" -Ulysses S. Grant
“This is absurd, this is absurd." -Sigmund Freud
“Okay, I won't" -Elvis Presley (Replying to his girlfriend who told him not to fall asleep in the bathroom.)
A young man gets a little nervous as he prepares to propose to his girlfriend. Well, a lot nervous. He shakes so bad the ring falls into the sea! That’s when the real adventure begins.
Thaddaeus Andreades, Marie Raoult, Nicholas Manfredi, and Elizabeth Ku-Herrero made this as their senior project at the School of Visual Arts. -via Digg
There’s something very relaxing about a rose-covered arch, a pergola festooned with wisteria, or a leafy arbor. Here’s another way to make a shady place to sit and enjoy nature: a willow dome. The structure support itself is alive! Willow branches have a particular feature that makes building a dome or other garden structure fairly easy.
Willow trees have an unusual trait: freshly cut branches will sprout roots and grow into new trees when merely plunked into the ground and watered. By taking cuttings from an established willow tree, “planting” them strategically and weaving the supple young branches together as they grow, any number of structures—such as a gazebo, pergola, play hut, party dome, sweat lodge, art cave or even a shady area for your livestock—can be created on your land.
Now I really want a willow tree! You can buy cuttings or a kit or even hire someone to build a willow structure for you, but you can also do it yourself with some guidelines from Modern Farmer.
(Image credit: Flickr user Steve James)
Email This Post to a Friend