If you never read about cars, you’ll want to make an exception for this one. Jeremy Clarkson (whose reviews are always worth reading) was supposed to write a review of the Renault Laguna Sport Tourer Dynamique. He didn’t much like the car, so he wrote a wonderful piece about why people wash their cars. Or don’t.

What a meaningless way of passing the time. You don’t wash your vacuum cleaner or your television set, you have a machine to wash the dishes and you employ a man to clean your windows. So how much do you have to hate the sight of your wife and children before you think, “I’d rather go outside into the cold and spend a couple of hours burnishing my wheel nuts”?

The comments are almost as funny. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

Freshome has a collection of 16 of the Most Extreme & Modern Beds You’ll Ever See. Some are space-saving ideas, some convert into other furniture, some are powered to do things, and some are just beautiful designs. All have product links. The bookcase bed shown here lies against the wall until you need it, when you can assemble it on the floor as a twin or double bed. Link -via Geek Like Me

A 16th century Japanese medical text included illustrations of the mythical creatures that cause disease when they invade the body. Although the basic concept proved to be true, bacteria and viruses were not visible at the time. The fanciful depictions and descriptions are a hoot, considering what we know now! For example, Gyochu as pictured here.

Gyochu, a deadly critter responsible for leprosy, acts as a messenger to the underworld. On the night of Koshin-no-hi (an important date occurring every 60 days on the Chinese calendar), Gyochu leaves the body to visit Enma-daio (Lord of the Underworld) and tell him of your misdeeds. Enma-daio is known to punish people for bad behavior by reducing their remaining time on earth.

See more at Pink Tentacle. Link -via Everlasting Blort

The geekiest engagement ring ever! Jennifer Flume designed this USB Flash Drive Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring. The idea is that two people can exchange information by connecting the rings (photos, messages, or other data). You can then transfer data to a PC with the aid of a USB necklace that accompanies the set. It’s a design concept not yet on the market. http://nexus404.com/Blog/2008/03/15/usb-flash-drive-swarovski-crystal-engagement-ring-for-brave-stupid-geeks-in-love/ to story. http://www.jflume.com/flash.html to Flume’s flash site. -via Geek Like Me

I knew the game FreeCell was addictive, but I didn’t know it was so old! Early versions of the card game may date back as far as 1945, with developments made between 1968 and 1977. Grow-A-Brain has an overview of the history of FreeCell and speculations on why people become hooked on solving it. Link

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.

Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.

When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.

Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

Link (with more pictures) -via Geek Like Me

(image credit: Oyvind Tangen)

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This adorable baby gorilla was rejected by her mother. Now six weeks old and named Tia, she is being fostered by employees at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Hythe, Kent. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/03/17/rejected-baby-gorilla-tia-is-being-lovingly-raised-by-zookeepers-89520-20353754/ -via Arbroath

This is just silly. But it made me laugh! Created by comedian Dan Allen. Link -via the Presurfer

Salamanders can regrow limbs after they are torn off; why can’t humans do the same?

Many years ago studies in the laboratory of our colleague Susan V. Bryant at the University of California, Irvine, demonstrated that the cells in the blastema are equivalent to the cells in the developing limb bud of the salamander embryo. This discovery suggested that the construction of a limb by the blastema is essentially a recapitulation of the limb formation that took place during the animal’s original development. An important implication of this insight was that the same genetic program is involved in both situations, and because humans make limbs as embryos, in principle we should already have the necessary programming to regenerate them as adults, too. It seemed, therefore, that all scientists needed to do was figure out how to induce an amputated limb to form a blastema.

The April issue of Scientific American looks at research that may one day lead to self-regeneration of human body parts. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Aaron Goodman)

Thousands of sheep died one night in 1968 in Skull Valley, Utah. Army officials got busy drafting a denial. They had been testing Cold War chemical and biological weapons, one of which was called VX.

VX was a triumph among the biological warfare community. Odorless and tasteless, it's three times as toxic as Sarin. In initial trials, this over-acheiving compound was also found to be highly stable, enabling long shelf life and environmental persistence. VX works by blocking chemicals in the victim's body from functioning. It prevents the enzyme acetylcholinesterase from allowing muscles to relax, resulting in the contraction of every muscle in the body. Exposure to a minute or diluted dose of VX will cause muscle twitching, drooling, excessive sweating, and involuntary defecation, among other unpleasantries. Exposure to a lethal dose — about ten milligrams — will cause convulsions, paralysis, and eventually asphyxiation due to sustained contraction of the diaphragm muscle. Unless the affected skin is cleaned and an antidote is administered immediately, a single drop of liquid VX will kill a person in around ten minutes

The sheep were not the only animals who died near the Dugway Proving Grounds. Read the rest of the story at Damn Interesting. Link

The Lunchtime Quiz today at mental_floss is entitled Medieval Torture Device or Bed Bath and Beyond Gadget? I didn’t score very well at all, since they all seemed to be medieval torture devices to me. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/13284

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One owl has a repertoire of responses to different threats. He can make himself big, make himself small, or just ignore the enemy. Although he was in no real danger, I felt sorry for the little guy. -via Everlasting Blort

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The YouTube entry says “Clearly the three best singers the Muppets have ever had to offer, together at last.” The Leprechaun Brothers perform Danny Boy in honor of St. Patrick's Day. -via Boing Boing

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Jerry doesn’t have to wait for anyone to throw the ball. He has a computerized ball-launcher he can reload himself! -via Digg

Questionaut is a beautiful click game where you answer and collect elementary-level questions. From the picture, you may have guessed it’s from Amanita Designs (yes, the Samorost people). I wish I had all day to play! Link -via Metafilter