I'd never thought there was any kind of procedure involving Mr. Spock's home planet on the TV show Star Trek. Vulcan is a perfectly logical place for a perfectly logical Starfleet officer to be from. But when Gene Roddenberry conceived of the character, he would have one parent from Earth and the other from Mars. Spock as a Martian? That seems a bit antiquated these days, not to mention overly common at the time, as we've known of Marvin the Martian and other stories of little green men from Mars. However, Roddenberry was going to be more scientifically accurate and make Spock's skin red, because Mars is the red planet. That may seem logical on the surface, but then you remember that the Earth is a blue planet, and blue is the rarest color among Earthlings. Still, Star Trek was on television before we ever had full color photographs of the whole earth.

So why did Spock end up being Vulcan? It had to do with makeup and the fact that most people were watching on black-and-white TVs in 1966. Read the story of Spock's changing colors and home planets at Cracked.

High school student Benjamin Choi had some time on his hands during the summer of 2020, as the lab he had planned to work at shut down for the pandemic. So he set about solving a problem that had bothered him for years. Choi had seen a report about a mind-controlled prosthetic arm, but it required surgery to implant the brain sensors. So Choi harnessed his sister's 3D printer and went to work. He went through 75 designs before he was satisfied with his robotic arm. The resulting arm is tough enough to withstand four tons of pressure. It works by EEG, using sensors placed on the outside of the skull. And it only costs about $300 to manufacture! Other hi-tech prosthetic arms can cost up to a half-million dollars once you include the cost of brain surgery.

Choi's arm landed him as a finalist in his year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search. He didn't win, but the arm he built may open doors for many people to use their arms again. Read about Choi's project at Smithsonian.

(Image credit: Society for Science)

A simple pun somehow turned into a worldwide celebration of all things Star Wars. It's futile to try to pinpoint who first made the joke. Every year when I was a kid, my father would make a big deal out of March fourth, as in "March forth!" so we can assume that someone somewhere altered the Star Wars reference for humor in May of 1978, and there is evidence that it was re-used for July 4th that same year.

Interestingly, the first major public usage of “May the Fourth be with you” wasn’t some geeky pronouncement, but rather a political joke made by British conservatives. It was a celebration of a slight return to the days of empire under Margaret Thatcher. On May 4, 1979, Thatcher had just been elected as the first female prime minister in the U.K., and the London evening newspaper ran a half-page ad that wished her well. The ad read: “Congratulations Maggie, May the 4th be with you!”

So by now the phrase is almost 45 years old. But it took several more steps for the day itself to be recognized as a geek holiday. Read the history of Star Wars Day at Mel magazine. And May the fourth be with you.  -via Digg

 
An amoeba known as Naegleria fowleri is a parasite that can be harmful to humans during one of its three life stages. Kurzgesagt explains exactly how it can eat your brain. It's pretty gruesome. Our immune system will fight this amoeba, but that battle does more damage to the brain than to the parasite. After this video scares you silly with the description of this deadly infection, they offer some encouraging facts to help you sleep tonight. As if that will help. Read more about the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri at Kurzgesagt. This video is only nine minutes long; the rest is an ad.  -via Kottke 

In its fight for independence from Portugal, Brazil recognized the invaluable fighting strength of a woman. Maria Quitéria was a real-life Fa Mulan (who may have been real, but not as well documented). Their stories varied in that Quiteria fought for love of country over the vehement objections of her father, who controlled her life down to her choice of spouse. She had grown up working on her marksmanship for hunting, encouraged by her mother, who died when Quiteria was still young. In order to fight with rebel leader Dom Pedro, Quiteria snuck away from her home in 1822 and enlisted in the Brazilian army accompanied by her brother-in-law, wearing one of his old uniforms.

Quiteria took on the identity of a young male soldier, and rose through the ranks for her shooting skills. Matters came to a head when her father found her and insisted that her superior officer send her home. Instead, the major refused the let her go, because her skills were so valuable! Unmasked, Quiteria became the first woman to officially serve in the Brazilian army. The army's confidence in her paid off, too. Read how Maria Quiteria became a hero of the Brazilian War of Independence at Truly Adventurous.   

How would ants react to chili sauce? We know it's spicy to mammals, but not to birds, which is why you can keep squirrels out of the bird feeder by adding pepper seeds. Insects are a whole nother question. From the video, we learn that they are attracted to a dab of Sriracha sauce, because it's red and it smells good. As you might guess, the first ants to try it are rather shocked. From there, you will never guess what the other ants do. YouTuber eLapse specializes in time-lapse videos, not ants, and was surprised himself when these bugs did their thing. Ants are smarter than you might think, and always have the welfare of the entire colony in mind. -via Digg

One thing we knew for certain is that McDonald's Happy Meals began in the 1970s. But who came up with the idea? A woman in Guatemala served them first, but she wasn't a big name in the company. Several McDonald's executives took credit for the idea. And the rival chain Burger Chef (remember them?) sued McDonald's because they'd packaged up kid's meals for years by then. While the origin story is pretty complicated, we also get a rundown in this video of the more memorable toys in Happy Meals, and the controversy over the meal's nutritional value.  

The customs around Happy Meals can be kind of intrusive, if you ask me. I recall ordering two Happy Meals for the kids when they were young, and the staffer asked if they were boys or girls. What difference does it make? She said because of the toys. I made her describe the toys before we decided whether the kids were boys or girls. Then the staffer seemed a bit upset that I selected coffee for the drinks. What? My kids already had drinks with them. I still order coffee with a Happy Meal, and just give the toy back at the window.

If you're young, you might think that a workplace would be somewhat homogenous, because all these people come together to perform a task, even if their roles vary. They must at least have the same kinds of talents, right? Oh no, the workplace is often a collection of people whose abilities, social skills, ethics, and temperaments range from zero to 100. If you have a group of fairly random personalities together, there will always be at least one or two jerks, maybe even more. These fall into seven categories, according to Tessa West, author of Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them, and they are the kiss-up-punch down jerks, the credit stealers, the bulldozers, the free riders, the micromanaging bosses, the neglectful bosses, and the gaslighters. Read a description of each, and how you can deal with them, at Lifehacker. I hope you don't recognize yourself in any of these categories. -via Digg

Screen Junkies decided that The Batman needed an alternative theme song, one that tells the story more honestly. So they produced "Kiss from a Bat." It's reminiscent of the 1994 song "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, but it's not the exact tune. If you follow it closely, it will reveal some of their more absurd observations from the film The Batman. Does it contain spoilers? I don't know, but I doubt it will change your mind about seeing the movie if you haven't seen it already. They hint that this is the first of many "Honest Theme Songs" to come. This song was arranged and produced by Bleu, who also sings, and the lead vocalist is Mike Taylor. The video was produced by The Warp Zone.

(Image source: Exomid)

People who have spoken English from childhood need to be aware that it's a darn hard language, and cut some slack for people who are struggling to learn it. Mistakes happen, and we can usually figure out what someone is really trying to say. Still, some English mistakes fall way over the "oops" category and into serious puns. The picture above is obviously a sign for the men's restroom, but labeling it with the singular "man" turns it into a superhero. That's something you wouldn't know if you're not familiar with the usage. So what we get is the world's worst superhero.

Sometimes all it takes is a simple misspelling, but if there's no one around who can spell in fluent English, the results can be disastrous.

(Image source: ClinicalIllusionist)

A list of 50 funny English mistakes at Bored Panda include not only misunderstandings and misspellings, but also bad machine translations and most egregiously, language mishaps from native English speakers. Those are the ones that will make you facepalm over and over.

(Image credit: Morpheios Melas)

Sometime during World War II, German engineers made a tank that came in the shape of a ball, traveled on two rollers, and held only a single soldier. That's about all we know about it. The only existing example of the Kugelpanzer was captured from the Japanese in Manchuria by the Soviets in 1945. Was it the only one ever made? This well could have been a prototype, and couldn't have been all that successful- or was it? We don't even know its purpose.

(Image credit: Alf van Beem)

The Russians have the Kugelpanzer in a museum. It's been repainted, and the engine has been removed. There is no documentation on the vehicle that we know of. Since it was World War II, any files may have been destroyed, and it's very possible that everyone involved in designing and producing this machine died before it was ever found. Read what we know about the Kugelpanzer, which is mostly speculation, and what we don't know about it at Amusing Planet. 

The game BeamNG.drive is a traffic simulation game based on "soft body physics," meaning it gives you realistic outcomes based on the laws of physics. However, the game does not prohibit you from being stupid. This sequence, brought to you by YouTuber BeamNG Nation, shows us what happens when a giant bulge suddenly appears in the road. Sort of a reverse sinkhole, as it were. It never occurs to the drivers of the various vehicles to leave the road and go around it, so we might assume that the game is programmed to stay on the road (although a cop car goes around). A couple of vehicles get over it unscathed, but that truck's suspension and cargo is most likely ruined. The video racked up more than a million views in three weeks, and when it went to Twitter, just one Tweet got 163,000 likes in two days. We just love to watch harmless destruction, which explains Looney Tunes and planned building demolitions. -via Digg 

I saw the headline, and knew that I had found the Holy Grail of Neatorama links. It's got movies, explosions, and farts! Brian VanHooker saw the new movie Jackass Forever and was thoroughly impressed by the stunt in which the cast managed to light a fart underwater. You can imagine the logistics involved in such a stunt, but apparently the payoff was worth it. VanHooker was inspired to go over all the movies in which a fart was ignited, and rank them by explosiveness. Can you guess what movie came in at #1? For that matter, how many fart-lighting movies have you seen? Each of the ten entries comes with video evidence, so you can judge for yourself. Spoiler: Jackass Forever only ranks at #8, since this is a list about explosiveness, not difficulty. See all ten scenes with explanations at Mel magazine. Warning: Some of the movie clips are NSFW.

If you pay attention, you'll pick up some profound pieces of wisdom as you go through life. You tuck that bit of wisdom away and never forget it. Sometimes it's something you were told that you thought was worth keeping, other times it's a lesson you learned from experience. Like I tell my kids, "You learn from your mistakes, but it's less painful to learn from other people's mistakes." See, I'll never forget those exact words, and neither will they.  Kevin Kelly turned 70 years old on Thursday, and has picked up some real gems of wisdom along the way. Kelly took the opportunity of his birthday to share 103 things he's learned in life, and they are all good things to remember. Here's a sample:   

• You will be judged on how well you treat those who can do nothing for you.

• The biggest lie we tell ourselves is “I dont need to write this down because I will remember it.”

• Cultivate 12 people who love you, because they are worth more than 12 million people who like you.

• Aim to die broke. Give to your beneficiaries before you die; it’s more fun and useful. Spend it all. Your last check should go to the funeral home and it should bounce.

Read the rest of the 103 at The Technium. -via Boing Boing

Ah, I remember it well. When Tim Burton announced that Michael Keaton would play a darker, more serious Batman in his upcoming movie, everyone was gobsmacked. Michael Keaton? Mr. Mom? He was a comedian! He played a crazed lunatic in Beetlejuice! Batman fans were suddenly afraid that their favorite comic book superhero would be changed into an object of ridicule. Strangely, many were more upset because Michael Keaton was short and not as muscular as they pictured Batman. And now Michael Keaton is often ranked as the best Batman actor ever.

Did we learn from this experience? No, Robert Pattinson was dismissed after his casting in The Batman, and it turned out rather well. Fans cried foul when pretty boy Heath Ledger got the part of The Joker in The Dark Knight, too, and he won an Oscar for the role, albeit posthumously. It turns out that a good actor can play many kinds of roles.  -via Geeks Are Sexy