Artist Phil Noto drew what Luke will look like in Star Wars VII. Or should look like. Considering what Mark Hamil looks like today, this is a very believable look for the Jedi Master. Link -via Buzzfeed
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
We all know it: women are a minority among scientists. Journalists love to write about them, but stories of women scientists tend to focus on the fact that they are women to the detriment of the actual science they are doing. Media profiles often put female scientists on a pedestal, as in "OMG, she's juggling her research career with raising kids!"
Ann Finkbeiner, my colleague at Last Word On Nothing, has had enough. As she explained here yesterday, she plans to write about an impressive astronomer and “not once mention that she’s a woman.” It’s not that Finkbeiner objects to drawing attention to successful female scientists. She’s produced many of these stories herself. The issue, she says, is that when you emphasize a woman’s sex, you inevitably end up dismissing her science.
Finkbeiner, a freelance science writer, inspired Christie Aschwanden to come up with the Finkbeiner test, to judge stories about women in science, although it would work with other professional profiles as well.
To pass the Finkbeiner test, the story cannot mention
The fact that she’s a woman
Her husband’s job
Her child care arrangements
How she nurtures her underlings
How she was taken aback by the competitiveness in her field
How she’s such a role model for other women
How she’s the “first woman to…”
In other words, writing about female scientists should be like writing about male scientists. Then the actual science can be the focus. In the essay at DoubleXScience, Aschwanden links to examples of stories that pass the test, and to those that don't. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science
(Image credit: Flickr user International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. The subject is Mexican agronomist Monica Mezzalama.)
Have you ever seen individually-wrapped jelly beans before? What a hassle! You might think this is a scheme to give away tiny little candies in tiny little bunches at Halloween, but this is sugar-free candy. Redditor BetterDayz4me ordered Jelly Bellies and was so surprised by the wrapping that he took a picture. And wouldn't you know it, got a couple of very good explanations in no time at all. Chubbysumo said,
actually, its probably because to be truly sugar free, they cannot use the corn starch powder that they usually toss in with them to stop them from sticking together, so, if they don't wrap them like that, they stick horribly.
And many others said it was to keep you from eating too many at once. There's a reason for this, as mrbooze explained,
This is important for people that somehow don't know it. Sugar-free candies meant for diabetics and such often use sorbitol/malitol/some-other-sugar-alcohol, which can be a powerful laxative if one consumes a large enough amount of it.
Edit: Apparently one of the sugar alcohols, erythritol, does not have the strong laxative effect of the others. On the other hand, eating too much at once can cause nausea and borborygmi, which is fun to say.
So whether you are diabetic or not, don't eat too many sugar-free candies at one time! Link
You've heard the phrase "he's got more talent in his big toe than I've got in my whole body"? Austrian band Mnozil Brass shows off some skills you didn't even know musicians had in this performance of "Lonely Boy." -via Arbroath
There are enough bacon products and projects around to serve you from the time you get up to the time you go back to bed (many of them available in the NeatoShop). You'll get a kick out of seeing them from sunup to bedtime in a photo essay at The Delivery Blog. Link -via the Presurfer
This video is of a marching band drum and bugle corps performance, but that's not what it's really about. It's a look into the job of camera calling featuring producer Tim Blair, taken at the 2004 DCI (Drum Corps International) World Championship. I briefly worked as a TV switcher many years ago, and marveled at how the news director managed to herd cats get a live newscast on air every day. How much more difficult is it to direct cameras for a live event in which you're not controlling the action? Listen and see! -via Viral Viral Videos
Putting a small device, the size of a key fob, in your pocket could "authenticate" your entire body for various purposes, such as unlocking your front door, or using a firearm. Those items wouldn't work for someone else who didn't have the device on them. The company Microchip Technology announced the product called BodyCom, which is a short-range security communication system.
Edward Dias, Microchip’s security business development manager, says the company envisions a slew of potential security applications for BodyCom. With the technology in place, you could unlock your front door just by touching the doorknob; power tools and guns could be secured so that only a user with the right fob could get them to work. (The idea is similar to the RFID- or biometric-equipped “smart gun” that some lawmakers are mulling.) BodyCom could be used for pets, too: a collar-mounted fob could let a pet open the doggy door with its nose or paw, but unwanted animals wouldn’t be able to get in.
Already, Dias says, a company in Italy is using BodyCom to ensure that motorcyclists cannot zoom off bare-headed. The key fobs are incorporated into helmets, while the handlebars of the motorcycle act as the base station.
The fob doesn't yet distinguish between the legitimate user and, say, someone who has stolen the fob, but it is small and hidden, and not labeled as to its use. Still, if you forget to take it out of your pants pocket, only the washing machine will be able to open the front door. If this technology could keep my kids from using my scissors, I'm all for it. Link
(Image credit: Microchip)
Redditor pembull took a panoramic photograph of Fort Funston Beach in San Francisco. The picture here is cropped; see the full version here. A nice picture, but what's that in the middle? It's his dog, which was running when the picture was taken. Let's zoom in.
The poor dog became known as "Buttdog" thanks to this photograph, and now has its own subreddit. However, there is plenty more photoshoppery available in the original thread. Link
Joe and Beverly Smith had a 1948 Plymouth convertible when they first married, but had to sell it when Joe was drafted for the Korean War. For the couple's 60th wedding anniversary, their son Joel surprised them with a car that brought back memories. It wasn't easy, but it was all worth it. -via Nag on the Lake
Princess Zelda is life-size: 5' 6" and made entirely of paper! DeviantART member minidelirium spent 226 hours putting this papercraft statue based on the character from the game Twilight Princess together -and then gave it away to an internet friend!
She used a downloadable template by PaperJuke, in case you want to try this yourself. See more pictures at minidelirium's gallery. Link -via Geekologie
(Images credit: MissDeliana)
If you're going to try to return that printer to the store, you should remove those copies of $100 bills from it. Police in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin, arrested Jarad S. Carr on charges of attempted theft by fraud, forgery, and resisting arrest.
Police were called to Walmart at 3:05 p.m. Thursday because Carr, 37, of West Bend was trying to return a printer without receipts or proof he bought it from the Lake Hallie Walmart.
While inspecting the printer, a single sheet with two counterfeit $100 bills printed on it was found.
Carr insisted on returning the printer even after Walmart staffers refused to take it.
After Carr was arrested, three additional counterfeit bills were found on his person. Police are still looking for a second man involved in the incident. Link -via Fark
He led her out to a rock on the shore, sang her a song, pulled out a ring box, and got down on one knee. A classic romantic proposal, and she was completely swept away by it. Then she said yes! Notice the ring survived the ordeal. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
Steve Martin Tweeted this picture of himself with some old friends. Just in case you don't recognize everyone, it's Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Paul Simon, Tom Hanks, and Lorne Michaels. There is some speculation that these guys were assembled to induct Justin Timberlake into the Five-Timers Club tonight on Saturday Night Live. Link -via reddit
This past week, I noticed that daylight came early enough that I could climb the stairs without turning on a light when waking up the kids. That won't be the case next week, because Daylight Saving Time starts tomorrow at 2AM in the United States (except for Arizona, Hawaii, and some territories). Spring forward, fall back -so remember to set your clocks forward one hour before you go to bed tonight. Next week, it may be hard to get up because your body knows it's an hour earlier than the clock says, but we'll get used to it. Eventually. Meanwhile, let's catch up on what happened here at Neatorama since last weekend.
Eddie Deezen asked the question Was Batman Gay? and presented the available evidence on both sides.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader gave us Godfather, Meet The Godfather, about the time Marlon Brando met John Gotti.
How Did You Take That Picture? was a fun picture post gleaned from busy redditors.
The Annals of Improbable Research provided Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive and Ready to Eat" Buckland.
And the story of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged came from mental_floss magazine's Masterpieces series.
We're breaking up the Brainteasers from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader into individual posts, so we can all argue about the same thing at the same time. In case you need to catch up on the comments, they involved Bozo's Brush and the Anchor in the pool.
In this week's What It It? game, the pictured item is indeed a bicycle stand. Anker was the first with the correct answer, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. The funniest answer came from kkirkpat, who said, "It's a fancy banana stand. And everyone knows, there's always money in the banana stand!"
Well, that's certainly good for a t-shirt! See the answers to all the mystery items at the What Is It Blog.
Congratulations to Neatoramanauts who won t-shirts this week in our t-shirt giveaway, tchotch, J.U.Piter, and passengercat! If you haven't checked out the selection of t-shirts at the NeatoShop lately, you'll be surprised at just how many new designs there are!
The most popular post of the week was Standing Cat, followed by How Did You Take That Picture? and Was Batman Gay?
The (non-giveaway) post with the most comments was America: The Home of Television, with The 10 Most Inexplicably Expensive Movies Ever Made coming in second, followed by Ralph Macchio is Now The Same Age Pat Morita Was in The Karate Kid. Feel Old Yet? The answer: yes, we do.
Comment of the week: On the brainteaser about the anchor, Sham explained exactly what would happen if you dropped an anchor in a swimming pool.
Well, if it's really a large anchor, chances are it will break the pool fiberglass/concrete shell when it hits the bottom, thus creating a crack, hence a large leak, and the pool will empty itself through said crack.
So the water level will go down.
And down.
And down.
Till you end up seating in your boat in the middle of an empty pool, a large anchor next to you. Can't wait to see the silly pictures on Facebook, though.
Usability tip of the week: Have you tried the search box at the top right of the page? I believe it may be the best internal search engine we've ever had here. If you don't recall the name of a particular post, just a word or two that's in it will find it. Still, your results may have a long list, look at the bottom of the results list and see if there's a "more search results" link. If you're looking for posts on a certain subject, you'll be surprised at how much neat material from our archives will come up! The search box is in the same place at the Neatoshop, where the results all come up with pictures!
Want even more Neatorama? We have extra content and fun at our Facebook page, like this pictures of the satanic leaf tailed gecko with flying fox wings (from /r/hybirdanimals). You should also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. And mobile users: Flipboard makes it easy to keep up with Neatorama.
Write yourself a note to set your clocks an hour forward tonight, and check back every day with us here at Neatorama. Have a great week!
This tea cup with teeth appears to be more of an art object than an everyday dish. It was made with a 3D printer and then glazed. The artist, Lily S. says,
Why is it that we find the cup so unappetizing? Could it have originated from survival tactics where we relate our proximity to another's teeth as a threat of life, a reminder of predator and prey, poison and contamination?
Is this object then successful in its design to prevent gluttonous behavior should food and drink only be offered in the cup?
And here's the kicker.
Cup is not intended to sit in a damp area for a prolonged time.
The Teeth Tea Cup is available at Etsy. Link -via Everlasting Blort
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