I live in a house that is over 100 years old. That's pretty old by US standards, but can you imagine living in a city that is 12,000 years old? That would be Damascus, Syria, with a population of four million people. Web Urbanist has a list of the ten oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Link

The home of John R. Mallgren of Mastic Beach, New York was condemned for unsafe conditions. Workers then removed 85,000 pounds of debris from the property, which required 10 garbage trucks! The city is sending the $8,742 bill to the owner of the property, John W. Mallgren, who is the occupant's father. He had tried to clean up the property before, but was threatened by his son. Town Supervisor Mark Lesko said a pit bull was also seized, and was taken to a shelter.

The younger Mallgren is due in District Court in Islip on Aug. 13 for a charge of second-degree menacing for allegedly threatening his father with a hammer, records state. He is also due in District Court in Patchogue on Aug. 20 to respond to the code violations, court officials said.

The younger Mallgren apparently accumulated the junk during the years he lived in the home, Lesko said, and seems to believe the debris has commercial value.

The man is "a menace in the neighborhood," who let the home deteriorate into something "like a scene out of a movie," Lesko said.

Link -via Huffington Post

Wouldn't it nice if one dose of medicine could be used over and over? The was the premise behind the everlasting cathartic pill. It was made of metal, and leeched out antimony as it passed through the digestive system, aiding in the elimination of parasites. It was billed as a cathartic, or laxative as we would say today. And the pill could be recycled! According to a 1907 pharmaceutical guide:

The bullet was passed out, recovered from the feces and used over and over again. This, as Dr. J. A. Paris says, was economy in right earnest, for a single pill would serve a whole family during their lives and might be transmitted as an heirloom to posterity.

Some heirloom! Link

The New York Times looks at the history of human-whale interaction, from whale hunting to the modern effects of sonar on the cetaceans. A very different type of interaction takes place in the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico, where gray whales give birth. The mother whales seek out human contact, as if wanting to make friends.

Some marine biologists have dismissed the phenomenon as little more than a reflexive behavior, suggesting that the whales are merely attracted to the sound of the boats’ motors or that they are looking to scratch their lice-ridden and barnacled backs against the boats’ hulls. Still, a combination of anecdotal evidence and recent scientific research into whale biology and behavior suggests that there may something far more compelling going on in the lagoons of Baja each winter and spring. Something, let’s say, along the lines of that time-worn plot conceit behind many a film, in which the peaceable greetings of alien visitors are tragically rebuffed by human fear and ignorance. Except that in this particular rendition, the aliens keep coming back, trying, perhaps, to give us another chance. To let us, of all species, off the hook.

New whale research shows that the animals are smarter than previously thought. Could they be trying to tell us something? Link -via Metafilter

(image credit: Ivan Chermayeff)

You only have to look at a turtle once to realize how different they are from other vertebrates. Where did that shell come from?

The shell itself is made from broadened and flattened ribs, fused to parts of the turtle's backbone (so that unlike in cartoons, you couldn't pull a turtle out of its shell). The shoulder blades sit underneath this bony case, effectively lying within the turtle's ribcage. In all other back-boned animals, whose shoulder blades sit outside their ribs (think of your own back for a start). The turtle's torso muscles are even more bizarrely arranged.

Ed Yong looks at turtle anatomy and how this weird configuration evolved from the basic vertebrate plan. Link

Cultural differences call for different food, so when a food company like McDonalds goes global, the menu items in other countries can seem a bit strange to Americans. Hot dogs or pasta for breakfast? McSpaghetti? Banana Pie? Available at McDonalds in Asia. Beer is served in Germany and France. In Canada, McDonalds has grilled cheese sandwiches and poutine on the menu. Shown is a Kiwiburger from the New Zealand menu, which has egg and beetroot in addition to beef. Link -via Cynical-C

Birds, bugs, and bats propel themselves through the air with wings, but other animals also travel through the air by gliding, leaping, or parachuting. This mental_floss article takes a look at seven creatures you wouldn't normally expect to fly, including frogs, fish, and snakes. Yes, snakes. Pictured is a mobula, a relative of the manta ray, leaping high above the ocean. Link

Just in case you've been looking for the Hello Kitty Taser, you may as well give up because it's not a real product. TASER International has announced that they do NOT sell a Hello Kitty version of the weapon. However, the TASER C2 is available in purplish pink as well as four other fashion colors. Link -via Hello Kitty Hell

Fail Whale is the delightful image of a flying whale that Twitter uses when the site is down for one reason or another. The whale, designed by artist Yiying Lu, became so popular that folks made their own versions, ranging from sculptures to tattoos to comics. Pictured is one of the several Fail Whale cakes in this extensive collection of Fail Whale tributes. Link -via Metafilter

Why use your arm in a food fight when you can rig up a tiny little catapult? This project is made from a mint tin, a measuring spoon, and a rubber band. What more fun can you have than to fling candy at your kids! Link -via J-Walk Blog

Landlord of the Flies is a blog about Gabe and his dealings with his landlord Gary. Gary sends emails and leaves notes and is in quite a bit of trouble with the police, all seemingly for our amusement. When Gabe received the above note, he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. This blog is only two pages long, so you'll want to read the whole thing. Link -via reddit

Angry Octopus is a webcomic featuring an octopus that always becomes angry by the final panel. It's a summer project from Mike and his eight-year-old daughter Zoe. The pictured comic is entitled "Beware of Fugu". Link -via Metafilter

I received a mysterious package in the mail yesterday. I'm always expecting something from eBay, but I didn't order anything lately that would come in a package this big.



Continue reading if you are interested in the contents. It gets a little creepy.

34-year-old Hu Binjun of Chengdu, Sichuan province, China was reportedly been doing drugs when he threatened to commit suicide. He also dangled his three-year-old daughter out the window of their eighth-story apartment by her legs! Police and emergency personnel spent three hours dealing with Hu.

Several attempts to coax Mr Hu into putting the girl down failed, until Chen Long, a 22-year-old fireman dressed in army uniform, dropped down from a window on the floor above and grabbed the child away from her parent.

As Mr Chen intervened, Mr Hu tried again to snatch the girl back, eventually falling back into his apartment.

He was arrested by the police after the incident on Tuesday, but subsequently attacked by a crowd of onlookers for threatening the life of the girl.

The daughter was found to have no serious injuries. Link -via Arbroath

Although not common, some people exhibit allergic reactions to some strange and hard-to-avoid things, like heat, cold, sunlight, sweat, and vibrations. Vibrations?

Once again it is the body having a strange reaction to what should be ordinary stimuli, as histamines are released in response to the sufferer's body being treated like one of 007's martinis. Hives, weals and welts erupt after as little as five minutes exposure to any kind of vibration.

Treatments for these odd allergies include antihistamines, desensitization, and avoidance. Link -via Digg