Since the news that Pope Benedict will step down hit the news early this morning, journalists and oddsmakers have scrambled to determine who might be the next pontiff. Here's a list of ten candidates, with odds attached from the Irish gambling site Paddy Power. These odds may change over the next few weeks. The frontrunner as of now is 64-year-old Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana (pictured) at 3 to 1. He is followed by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet at 7 to 2. Read about all ten at Buzzfeed. Link
Teddy Bear loves his corn, as many of you know. But what happens when it runs out? I bet you can guess how this Valentine's Day video greeting ends! -Thanks, Allison!
Nat Geo TV published a series of comics from Dr. Byron Beekle containing interesting facts about the ocean and the creatures that live in it. As the series progressed, the "facts" became more personal and the artist progressively more unhinged, until the comic was suddenly cancelled -on April Fool's Day. You can read the entire series at the NatGeo Wild TV blog. Link -via Blame It On The Voices
The organization Reporters Without Borders has released their Freedom of the Press Index for 2013. Sadly, whether you can find out what's going on in the world depends on where you live. Many governments still control information with an iron hand.
The Nordic countries have again demonstrated their ability to maintain an optimal environment for news providers. Finland (1er, 0), Netherlands (2nd, +1) and Norway (3rd, -2) have held on to the first three places. Canada (20th, -10) only just avoided dropping out of the top 20. Andorra (5th) and Liechtenstein (7th) have entered the index for the first time just behind the three leaders.
At the other end of the index, the same three countries as ever – Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea – occupy the last three places in the index. Kim Jong-un’s arrival at the head of the Hermit Kingdom has not in any way changed the regime’s absolute control of news and information. Eritrea (179th, 0), which was recently shaken by a brief mutiny by soldiers at the information ministry, continues to be a vast open prison for its people and lets journalists die in detention. Despite its reformist discourse, the Turkmen regime has not yielded an inch of its totalitarian control of the media.
Read the entire report and see how your county ranks at the Reporters Without Borders website. Link -via Nag on the Lake
All libraries have rules: bring your books back by the due date, and keep your voice down because people are trying to read. But some libraries have extra rules that obviously have a story behind them. No chewing on the headphone cords! No shampooing your hair in the restroom sink! And for gosh sakes, don't let the bats in! Read about these rules and more at mental_floss. Link
Kipling West has a fine collection of vintage valentines that use monsters, skeletons, and other Halloween themes to profess love. Perfect for expressing your romantic side while still getting your goth on! Link -via Seven Deadly Sinners
See her other vintage valentines, arranged into themed sets of clowns, medical subjects, cats, meat, and more! Link
As if we didn't have enough holidays this week, today is Inventor's Day. Celebrated on different dates in different countries, the date of February 11th was selected in the U.S. in 1983 as National Inventor's Day because it is the birthday of Thomas Edison. In honor of the occasion, Edison's company GE sponsored this Buzzfeed video narrated by Ze Frank. -via Viral Viral Videos
Mark Anderson loves building LEGO spaceships, and any holiday is a good reason to build one around a theme. This sweetheart of a project is shaped like a heart and powered by two huge round red engines! The pilot is Capt. Val N. Tine, who must deal with an enemy rocket that has pierced the fuselage, leaving it looking uncannily like Cupid's arrow through the heart. See more at Andertoons. Link
Penguins got highways! This crossroad sees a lot of traffic, most of it running smoothly. Don't get lost, little guys! Melissa Brennan shot this footage in Antarctica on her quest to visit all seven continents before she turns 21, which is documented at her blog meanderingmel. Link -via Arbroath
There's Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, and of course, Florida Man. Florida Man is in the news constantly, with headlines enshrined in a Twitter feed dedicated to "the world's worst superhero." Link -via Metafilter
This may look like an origami creation, but it's a tiny animal called a tardigrade or water bear. Water bears are natures great survivors, having been found alive at high elevations, deep in the ocean, dried up and rehydrated, and in extreme heat and cold. They can even survive the vacuum of space! Read about tardigrades and see some awesome photographs at Dark Roasted Blend. Link
Cracked has another list of interesting historical figures who did some bizarre things that led to the world as we know it. For example, we assume that the food we eat doesn't have a lot of dangerous additives, but it wasn't so before chemist Harvey Wiley had a crazy idea about testing food.
In 1902, Department of Agriculture chief chemist Harvey Wiley got $5,000 from Congress to figure out what was up with the preservatives getting stuffed into food. Only a few years earlier, soldiers fighting in the Spanish-American War complained that their tinned beef tasted like embalming fluid and smelled like human cadavers -- and they would know, on both counts. Soldiers suspected that the meat was laced with boric acid to hide the fact that it was as putrid as the word "putrid" when you say it like this: "peeeeewtrid."
So Wiley gets his $5,000 and sets up a lab full of chimps to systematically study the effects of eating a diet of food filled with additives. WRONG. He asks a regular crew of volunteers from the Department of Agriculture to ingest poisoned food every day for five years -- just to see what happens. Despite having jobs, salaries, and access to regular not-poisoned food, a dozen otherwise sane men volunteered to eat meals laced with borax, salicylic acid, sulfuric acid, sodium benzoate, and formaldehyde. And the meals were just the beginning of the crazy: Each man also had his poop and pee tested daily to see what was coming out. And each volunteer promised not to hold the government liable, no matter what kind of sludge came out of his tear ducts when he cried himself to sleep at night.
He actions led to the birth of the FDA, which we depend on. Other stories tell of the crazy guys who gave us the our dictionary, rubber, and forensic psychology, with the expected hyperbole and language warning from Cracked. Link
A four-legged animal can often get along well on three legs. When a pet only has the use of two legs, its owner can add wheels to the animal's back or front. But what if a cat has only one front leg and one rear leg? On the same side? Caffrey the cat lost his left hind leg to an automobile collision ten years ago. Four months ago, a malignant growth on his left front leg led to another amputation. Caffrey, no longer a young cat, was back on his two remaining right feet within a few days! Link -via Arbroath
Flowcharts are supposed to help you in making step-by-step decisions to reach a particular goal. Now here's a flowchart from College Humor to help determine whether you know what you're doing when you read a flowchart. If you're not, it won't help you at all. Link -via the Presurfer
The Anaheim Ducks are playing the St. Louis Blues. Dave, being a cat, is a Ducks fan. You may think that Dave is a strange name for a cat, but this one wears it well. Besides, it's no stranger than naming a hockey team the Ducks. -via reddit
