Harmonica players both suck and blow, and they put up with a lot of jokes, too! Anyone can play a harmonica, but it takes skill and practice to make a nice tune come out of one.

Of course, it doesn’t help if your harmonica is so poorly designed that you couldn’t play it well even if you were a pro, which describes the state of the instrument from the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, when Hohner, the largest harmonica manufacturer in the world, made a single, seemingly small change to its ubiquitous Marine Band harmonica. Hohner’s bottom-line gambit was to slightly enlarge the slots through which a harmonica’s reeds vibrate. It made the instrument’s pair of reed plates cheaper to assemble but the instrument itself virtually impossible to control, thanks to all the extra air that was now being blown into and drawn out of it. Hohner eventually corrected its error, but it took a ragtag group of harmonica customizers and music geeks from around the world to force the 150-year-old German firm to face the music.

Collectors Weekly has an extensive article that tells that story, as well as a short course on how a harmonica works, and the history of the instrument and the blues musicians who relied on it. Link

The polarity of the sun's magnetic field will flip in about three to four months, according to physicists at Stanford University. It is a big event, but it happens every eleven years as part of the normal solar cycle. Solar physicist Phil Scherrer explains what will happen.

When solar physicists talk about solar field reversals, their conversation often centers on the "current sheet."  The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun's equator where the sun's slowly-rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current.  The current itself is small, only one ten-billionth of an amp per square meter (0.0000000001 amps/m2), but there’s a lot of it: the amperage flows through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide.  Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.

During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy. Scherrer likens the undulations to the seams on a baseball.  As Earth orbits the sun, we dip in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around our planet.

Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy.  Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth. The current sheet acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.

NASA explains more at their Science News site. Link

(YouTube link)

Here you see the mouthparts of a mosquito enter a mouse's skin under a microscope. Eww!

For a start, look how flexible the mouthparts are! The tip can almost bend at right angles, and probes between the mouse’s cells in a truly sinister way. This allows the mosquito to search a large area without having to withdraw its mouthparts and start over.

“I was genuinely amazed to see the footage,” says James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who studies mosquitoes. “I had read that the mouthparts were mobile within the skin, but actually seeing it in real time was superb. What you assume to be a rigid structure, because it has to get into the skin like a needle, is actually flexible and fully controllable. The wonders of the insect body never cease to amaze me!”

Ed Yong has an explanation of what's going on during a mosquito bite, plus more videos, including one where the mouthparts find a blood vessel. The article might make you itch. Link

(vimeo link)

Paul Rayment used the alphabet as an excuse to make a neat and funny neon animation. He says the other letters will follow in future videos. -via Everlasting Blort

When someone is in need, this shark will rise to the occasion! This is one of 20 funny pictures, memes, and Photoshoppery devoted to Shark Week at World Wide Interweb. Link -via Daily of the Day 

Plenty of brilliant and not-so-brilliant minds have worked on the idea of preventing shark attacks. This list of patented products range from the sensible to the ridiculous. Most sensible is a chemical pack attached to life jackets to protect military personnel during World War II. The most ridiculous (at least in looks) is this suit covered with spikes. You could hurt yourself with that! See eight such inventions at mental_floss. Link

The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research.

by Marc Abrahams

(Image credit: Flickr user World Economic Forum)

Murray Gell-Mann is a Distinguished Fellow and Co-Chairman of the Science Board of the Santa Fe Institute. He is also the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical Physics Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology. In 1969 Gell-Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics "for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions."

Do you often give nicknames to people or things?
Not especially. Sometimes using the etymology of the names, but otherwise not.

Are there any nicknames you are known by?
Not that I know of.

Never, throughout your life?
Not really. No.

Sometimes people abbreviate my first name to "Murr," but it's pretty unusual. See, it already has the "ee" sound on the end, which is a typical diminutive: Charlie, Bobby, Harry...

Is that typical of people with "ee" sounds at the end of their names, not to have nicknames?
Well, you wouldn't add an "ee" to it again—"Murr-ee-ee?" The only thing one can do is to shorten it to "Murr," which people have occasionally done. But not more than a few times in my life have I heard that name.

Sometimes people get called a different name, "Spike" or...
Oh, yes. "Sparky," like Mr. Schultz, who just died.

You never had one of those nicknames?
No, I was never called "Sparky" or "Spike."

Never had any desire to have a nickname?

(YouTube link)

Didga is a confident and talented cat -and she rides a skateboard better than I ever did! This video has a too long, staged setup, so you can skip the first half if you like -the action begins at about :30 seconds. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

'Tis Thursday, so you know what it means, Neatoramanauts: it's time for the What Is It? Game, brought to you by the always amusing What Is It? Blog.

What is the item above? Your guess can win you a free T-shirt of your choice from the NeatoShop. Here's how to play:

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, but you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks.

Let's change it up a bit: we'll pick two winners who submit funny (albeit ultimately incorrect) guesses. If you guessed right, then good for ya - but you don't win anything, mmkay? So, it's up to you, funny people: you have twice the chance of winning that T-shirt now.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize. We highly suggest you take a look at the NeatoShop's new selection of Funny T-shirts and Science T-Shirts.

Ready? Go for it! (Don't forget to visit the What Is It? Blog for more clues!)

Update: the cast iron knight shown is a fireplace tools holder, for hanging a poker, shovel, and tongs. Lots of people knew that, but this week we are looking for wrong but entertaining guesses! One winning guess came from Paul Hitchmough, who said, "It's a tool used by knights to make three-strand woven friendship bracelets for their BFFs, but has the masculine design to keep up appearances. Those Crafty knights." The other winner is Sunfall, who guessed it to be a "a Knight Light. Just plug the prongs into a high-voltage outlet and watch its soothing red-hot metal glow. Your kids will love it! (Use only if children are fireproof.)" Those are both worth a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! Thanks to everyone who entered. See the answers to the other mystery items of the week at the What Is It? blog.

Football helmets always come with warning labels these days, because the companies that make them do not like being sued when football players suffer brain damage. But Schutt Sports goes a little further than the others. The last lines say:

“No helmet system can protect you from serious brain and/or neck injuries including paralysis or death. To avoid these risks, do not engage in the sport of football.”

Of course, the language of warning labels comes from the legal department, not the marketing department, and is intended to minimize liability. But if sports equipment manufacturers are this aware of the inherent dangers of the sport, maybe we should rethink whether American football is worth the risk. Link - via Deadspin

(Image credit: Stefan M. Duma)

(YouTube link)

What we call football in the US is quite different from what the rest of the world calls football. The differences are highlighted when an American coach is recruited to run a British soccer team. But the differences between the US and the UK aren't limited to sports! Best line: "How many countries you got in this country?" Jason Sudeikis stars in this fish-out-of-water story. NBC Sports produced the video to promote soccer games on the American TV network. -via Daily of the Day

(YouTube link)

Anthony is a pilot. His friend Josh admitted he was somewhat afraid of flying. Anthony convinced Josh that an aerobatics flight would help him conquer his fears. This video contains plenty of NSFW language, which you can barely hear over the engine noise, but you'll get the idea. -via reddit

A family of swallows are nesting inside a Land Rover used for nature tours in Pensthorpe Nature Reserve in Norfolk, England. Five eggs hatched, and the babies continue to thrive while the vehicle is in use. Warden Darren Williams says two chicks have fledged but still follow the Land Rover around.

"I feel like a surrogate father and I'm sure all the hot air from my tour patter was keeping them warm.

"The nest is just on top of a speaker and we've rigged up a swallow hammock from a little bit of netting in case they fell out as we bounced over the rough terrain."

The nest was initially removed from the vehicle to discourage the birds nesting so close to the public, but the adult swallows began to build again as soon as it was removed.

Mr Williams said: "This is uncharted territory for us.

The tourists who travel the nature preserve in the Land Rover love having the birds along. Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Pensthorpe Nature Reserve)

Gryffin Sanders of Golden, Colorado, was in the car with his younger brother being driven by their 74-year-old great-grandmother. The car was traveling at 60 mph when Darlene Nestor passed out!

Gryffin saw the car start to veer toward oncoming traffic, so he grabbed the wheel to steer the vehicle away -and into a ditch. His father, Sean Sanders, considers Gryffin a hero.
The car slowed down in the ditch filled with mud and he and his brother were unharmed. Passersby stopped to call 911 and help his great grandmother. Sean said there easily could have been head-on collision.

"The car could have rolled. There could've been, you know, a travesty of an injury or even possibly a fatality," Sean said. "The good news is we will never have to know."

Luckily, this is not the first time Gryffin has driven. He says he learned a lot playing the video game "Mario Kart".

"And, I'm pretty good at go kart driving," Gryffin said.

Nestor was airlifted to a hospital where she is undergoing tests. Link -via Geekologie

(YouTube link)

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why science is awesome. His ten reasons all look familiar …because we'd posted most of them here at Neatorama. Here are links in case you want to explore them further.

10. Chris Hadfield
9. Barreleye Fish
8. Northern Lights in Finland
7. Liquid Oxygen in Slow Motion
6. Felix Baumgartner
5. The Sagan Series
4. Robot Cheetah
3. Quantum Levitation
2. Anamorphic Illusions
1. The purpose of the Universe

-via Geeks Are Sexy