There are plenty of wonderful things to do on a snow day! And if you do these things, be sure to take pictures. This illustration by Grant Snider is available as a print. Link -via Laughing Squid
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
There are plenty of wonderful things to do on a snow day! And if you do these things, be sure to take pictures. This illustration by Grant Snider is available as a print. Link -via Laughing Squid
The former butchering facility in Dresden, Germany featured in Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 book Slaughterhouse Five is a real place that you can visit. The book is a work of fiction, but Vonnegut was really held prisoner in Dresden's Schlachthof Fünf (Slaughterhouse Five) during the city's fire bombing in World War II. Read more about the underground meat locker that saved the lives of POWs like Vonnegut at Atlas Obscura. Link
If you want to give a kiss to impress for Valentines Day, you should brush up on what you think you know and what you don't know about French kissing. Above all, you don't want to be one of the types of kissers guaranteed to be a turn-off.
Oh, there are more, which you'll find at Geeks Are Sexy. Link
The Saint Bernard–someone who slobbers way too much, leaving their partner’s face looking like a microwaved glazed donut.
The Wrecking Ball–someone who lunges in so hard they clank their teeth against the other person’s, breaking more than the moment and possibly leaving their partner with the smile of a hockey player.
The Meat Grinder–someone who forgets (or doesn’t care) that they have braces and like a Saw film proceeds to attack their partner’s tongue and lips with their cheese grater grill.
Vlad the Impaler–someone who repeatedly shoves their Gene Simmons-sized tongue down their partner’s throat, testing their gag reflex.
Oh, there are more, which you'll find at Geeks Are Sexy. Link
It's time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what the pictured item is? Great guesses win prizes!
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
For more clues, check out the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: I thought Jared was the first with the correct answer (the item is a bottle opener!) then it turns out that sandyra was actually earlier with the correct answer and I overlooked it. So, both are now winners! Wilbur's answer was the funniest: "These are used exclusively for constructing wooden spiral staircases. (too bad you don't have the hammer in the pic)..." All win t-shirts from the NeatoShop!
We know that 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but how did Douglas Adams come up with it? In this excerpt from the book 42: Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, author Peter Gill teases us with some background on how Adam's radio comedy series (and later, book) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy came about.
Coincidence or not, knowing the origin of "42" takes nothing away from the genius of Adams' work. Read more from the book at The Guardian. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
As the book's title suggests, Adams, like most authors, was not afraid to borrow, and there are revealing similarities between Welsh's Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. One of these provides perhaps the most intriguing explanation for "Why 42?". As you may remember Adams had Deep Thought perform a little expectation management and say: "You're really not going to like it" before revealing the Ultimate Answer.
Curiously, Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe had told of visitors to the UK searching for family roots finding "the answer a little disappointing" – after travelling around the world in search of "the solution to the most puzzling question of all". A coincidence, perhaps . . . but this coincidence is on page 42.
Coincidence or not, knowing the origin of "42" takes nothing away from the genius of Adams' work. Read more from the book at The Guardian. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
(YouTube link)
"If you're looking for a 1960 model, this may well be it." Those were big words back in 1948, when this short documentary was produced by Popular Mechanics. Which will it be: a three-wheeled golf cart that resembles a flying saucer, an airstream camper on wheels, or a souped-up model T with the dashboard of an airplane? http://www.paleofuture.com/blog/2010/4/22/the-streamlined-car-of-1960-1948.html -via Nag on the Lake
Flickr user NiferCritter thought this was such a neat scene that she knew photographic evidence was required.
I passed a storefront window w/ such an oddity of things, that it needed to post a sign that it was indeed a store:
Link -via Evil Mad Linkblog
(YouTube link)
The guys from MST3K recognize fans celebrating a Super Bowl win in the crowd behavior seen in the 1975 film Giant Spider Invasion. The Packers were a recurring joke in the series. -via Buzzfeed
What happens when you mashup Moby Dick and Apocalypse Now? You get a movie script by Perry Hall, available in its entirety in a .pdf.
We can assume that the part of Ishmael should be played by a young Martin Sheen, and it won't be the first time Marlon Brando has been likened to a white whale. Link -via Metafilter
MAN (GENERAL AHAB)
Blood and thunder! Mobys gone off the reservation-- he's swimming and fighting out there, General, answering to no one but himself. An albino daemon! He's collected his own army from the native rank and is running completely amok. He must be stopped!
ISHMAEL (VOICE OVER)
This overbearingly grim man, Ahab, was roughly of sixty years; bronzed, weathered like an ancient tree, his form suggested a man released from a burning stake just before its fire could fully engulf him. The mad glint in his eye began a tale; the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood-- which had been fashioned from the polished bone from a sperm whale’s jaw-- completed it.
GENERAL BILDAD
Captain Ishmael, this be General Ahab. Ahab has... encountered Moby in the field, or should I say, upon the waters. He be an expert on our renegade Colonel.
We can assume that the part of Ishmael should be played by a young Martin Sheen, and it won't be the first time Marlon Brando has been likened to a white whale. Link -via Metafilter
(YouTube link)
Those of you who been around Neatorama for a while know that infrequent author Johnny Cat, our own Don Quixote, went to school to study windmills. He is now close to finishing his classes, and ready to do what you see in this time-lapse video.
One of the aspects of working in the wind industry that I am particularly looking forward to is the installation and commissioning of new turbines. It’s a process that involves precise planning, coordination and execution. Teams don’t have the luxury of putting up the 300? tube sections, and then breaking off until the next day, because the hollowness of the tube will capture the wind (these are built in windy areas, remember), and a vortex will form, tearing the structure apart! Nope, the entire tower needs to go up in four or more phases: bottom tube, top tube, nacelle, and hub- all in the least amount of time possible.
The music in the video is “Elevation” by U2. Link
Famous faces in public places, but these aren't advertising bill boards. Web Urbanist rounded up pictures of street art that incorporates celebrities you know and maybe love. This image of Jack Nicholson was painted in Berlin a few years ago. Link -via Rue the Day
(Image source: Lost At E Minor)
Andy Ellison posts animated images of food on his site Inside Insides. What you see here is an MRI of an onion. The bright spot that appears is actually a bruise! You can also see MRI scans of bell peppers, green beans, persimmons, and much more. Link -via Everlasting Blort
It's time for the Name That Weird Invention! contest. Steven M. Johnson comes up with all sorts of crazy ideas in his Museum of Possibilities posts. What inspiration does this scene suggest to you? The commenters suggesting the funniest and wittiest names will win a free T-shirt from the NeatoShop. Let your imagination run wild, and good luck!
Update: We have winners! A t-shirt goes to Skribbler, who won first place with the entry "Soil-ent Whites". The second place name was "Grampers" from joe satari, who did not select a shirt.
The following article is from the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research.
by Lloyd Fricker, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
This paper describes the cloning of the zucchini opiate receptor using an expression assay. We have undertaken this project for the following reasons:
1) Opiate receptors are important.
2) Cloning things is important.
3) Therefore, cloning the opiate receptor must be very important.
Our model system involves the zucchini, which avoids many of the ethical problems associated with using small defenseless animals for research, especially for studies involving pain. Vegetables are also cheaper than laboratory animals, and they taste better as well (1). We have previously demonstrated that zucchini contain functional receptors for opiates (2), so this was the vegetable of choice.
Materials and Methods
Zucchini were obtained from a local breeding facility and were transported back to the laboratory on ice. They were housed in the crisper section of the refrigerator until use. Mr. Potato Head was obtained from Toys-B-Us and assembled with the help of a 5 year old. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Squash Use Committee (ISUC).
Results and Discussion
When zucchini were subjected to the standard hot-plate test, they showed a normal jumping reflex (Figure 1, Panel A). Much to the demise of the unfortunate vegetable, injection of 10 mg/kg of morphine into the tail stem of the zucchini caused a dramatic decrease in the perception of pain, as well as instilling a false sense of serenity to the vegged-out zucchini (Figure 1, Panel B). Injection of 10 mg/kg naloxone (an opiate antagonist) rudely awakened the blissful vegetable to the cruel reality of the situation, with full restoration of the jumping reflex (Figure 1, Panel C).
In a search for an organism that has a jumping reflex but which is not responsive to morphine, we tested a variety of fruits and vegetables. Some, like milk, did not show a jumping reflex at all, while others (bananas, popcorn) showed a robust morphine-sensitive jumping reflex. During this screening, we found that potatoes showed a jumping reflex that was not responsive to morphine (not shown). To facilitate the expression cloning, we tested the highly expressive Mr. Potato Head, which is evolutionarily related to the Idaho potato (3). As shown in Figure 2, Mr. Potato Head showed a jumping reflex when tossed onto the same scalding hot surface as used for the zoned out zucchini in Figure 1.
A hefty dose of morphine did nothing to alter the jumping reflex of Mr. Potato Head, nor did it appear to alter the expression of fear caused by the hot surface (Figure 2, Panel B). Injection of 10 mg/kg of naloxone also had no influence on the jumping reflex of Mr. Potato Head (Figure 2, Panel C).
Taken together, these results indicate that Mr. Potato Head does not contain functional opiate receptors.
Figure 3. Standard zucchini library (volumes 62-65).
To clone the zucchini opiate receptor, we first created a zucchini cDNA library from RNA (actually, zRNA) isolated from the neuroinfundibular lateral geniculate moosel structure of the zucchini, which has been previously shown by autoradiography to contain large amounts of opiate receptors (2). The library was then made by doing all the things that one does when one makes a library. A portion of the library is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 4. Zucchini/Mr. Potato Head expression library.
The zucchini library was then transfected into Mr. Potato Head using a modification of the calcium phosphate method (the modification used NaCl in place of calcium phosphate, and ketchup in place of the glycerol). The zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library shows partial phenotype of both parent organisms, and tastes great either raw or deep fried. A portion of the library is shown in Figure 4.
The zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library was screened using an expression assay. Specifically, the change in "expression" upon painful stimulus, and the ability of morphine to attenuate this change, was tested for each clone. One positive clone was identified which did not respond to an extremely painful stimulus in the presence of morphine (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Representative (actually, the only) clone from the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library which does not show a change in expression when subjected to a painful stimulus under the influence of morphine.
To confirm the morphine-induced insensitivity to pain, the unfortunate clone was dosed with 10 mg/kg morphine and then subjected to the blistering hot surface of the Therm-O-Swirl. In the presence of morphine, the poor clone lost all signs of a jumping reflex and is shown moments before bursting into flames (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Hot-plate test with positive clone from zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library.
To eliminate the possibility that this clone has simply lost the jumping reflex, rather than gaining the opiate receptor, the clone was tested in the absence of morphine. Without the drug, the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head clone showed a normal jumping reflex on the hot plate test (Figure 7, Panel A). Note the expression of fear on the clone. With 10 mg/kg morphine coursing through its veins, the blissed-out clone lost all concept of fear of hot surfaces, and did not display any survival instincts to escape from the hot surface (Figure 7, Panel B). Injection of naloxone fully restored the jumping reflex, and the apparent feeling of pain to the clone (Figure 7, Panel C). This is one unhappy clone!
The cDNA from the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head clone was isolated and sequenced, but since the actual order of the nucleotides is of interest only to our competitors, we have not shown the sequence. Go clone it yourself if you really want to know. We're holding this confidential until we get it published in a good journal, like Cell, Science, or Better Homes and Gardens.
img class="size-full wp-image-41649" title="450zucchini7" src="http://uploads.neatorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/450zucchini7.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="256" />Figure 7. Panel A: This is a clone. Panel B: This is a clone on drugs (10 mg/kg morphine). Panel C: This is a clone on even more drugs (10 mg/kg naloxone, in addition to the morphine). Any questions?
Thanks to Lakshmi, Mike, Mark, Bruce, and Jim for helping arrange and photograph the zucchini late one night in the Herbert lab. This work was previously presented as a poster at a Society for Neuroscience meeting in 1986, and is also to be included in an upcoming book to be published by HMS Beagle.
Literature Cited
1. Actually, we made this up, and have not ever really tasted zucchini.
2. "Behavioral Effects of Opiates in Plants," L.D. Fricker, I. Patch-Lindberg, and G. Mendel, III, J. Ir. Res., July, 1986.
3. On the Origin of Toy Species: Evolution or Creation? Charles Darwin VII, Archaic Press, New York.
(Color image credit: Flickr user ilovebutter)
Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.
by Lloyd Fricker, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
This paper describes the cloning of the zucchini opiate receptor using an expression assay. We have undertaken this project for the following reasons:
1) Opiate receptors are important.
2) Cloning things is important.
3) Therefore, cloning the opiate receptor must be very important.
Our model system involves the zucchini, which avoids many of the ethical problems associated with using small defenseless animals for research, especially for studies involving pain. Vegetables are also cheaper than laboratory animals, and they taste better as well (1). We have previously demonstrated that zucchini contain functional receptors for opiates (2), so this was the vegetable of choice.
Materials and Methods
Zucchini were obtained from a local breeding facility and were transported back to the laboratory on ice. They were housed in the crisper section of the refrigerator until use. Mr. Potato Head was obtained from Toys-B-Us and assembled with the help of a 5 year old. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Squash Use Committee (ISUC).
Results and Discussion
- Figure 1. The effect of morphine and naloxone on the hot plate induced jumping reflex in a zucchini. A: the normal jumping reflex demonstrated when an adult female Burpee brand zucchini is placed on a scalding hot surface, such as a Therm-O-Swirl that had been left on for several days. B: Injection of 10 mg/kg of morphine into the tail stem of the zucchini eliminates the jumping reflex. C: Injection of 10 mg/kg naloxone (an opiate antagonist) into the morphine-treated zucchini restores the jumping reflex.
When zucchini were subjected to the standard hot-plate test, they showed a normal jumping reflex (Figure 1, Panel A). Much to the demise of the unfortunate vegetable, injection of 10 mg/kg of morphine into the tail stem of the zucchini caused a dramatic decrease in the perception of pain, as well as instilling a false sense of serenity to the vegged-out zucchini (Figure 1, Panel B). Injection of 10 mg/kg naloxone (an opiate antagonist) rudely awakened the blissful vegetable to the cruel reality of the situation, with full restoration of the jumping reflex (Figure 1, Panel C).
In a search for an organism that has a jumping reflex but which is not responsive to morphine, we tested a variety of fruits and vegetables. Some, like milk, did not show a jumping reflex at all, while others (bananas, popcorn) showed a robust morphine-sensitive jumping reflex. During this screening, we found that potatoes showed a jumping reflex that was not responsive to morphine (not shown). To facilitate the expression cloning, we tested the highly expressive Mr. Potato Head, which is evolutionarily related to the Idaho potato (3). As shown in Figure 2, Mr. Potato Head showed a jumping reflex when tossed onto the same scalding hot surface as used for the zoned out zucchini in Figure 1.
- Figure 2. The effect of morphine and naloxone on the hot plate induced jumping reflex in Mr. Potato Head. A: The normal jumping reflex when an adult male Mr. Potato Head (obtained from Toys-B-Us). B: Injection of 10 mg/kg of morphine i.p. (intra-potato). C: Injection of 10 mg/kg of naloxone i.p. into the morphine-treated toy.
A hefty dose of morphine did nothing to alter the jumping reflex of Mr. Potato Head, nor did it appear to alter the expression of fear caused by the hot surface (Figure 2, Panel B). Injection of 10 mg/kg of naloxone also had no influence on the jumping reflex of Mr. Potato Head (Figure 2, Panel C).
Taken together, these results indicate that Mr. Potato Head does not contain functional opiate receptors.
Figure 3. Standard zucchini library (volumes 62-65).
To clone the zucchini opiate receptor, we first created a zucchini cDNA library from RNA (actually, zRNA) isolated from the neuroinfundibular lateral geniculate moosel structure of the zucchini, which has been previously shown by autoradiography to contain large amounts of opiate receptors (2). The library was then made by doing all the things that one does when one makes a library. A portion of the library is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 4. Zucchini/Mr. Potato Head expression library.
The zucchini library was then transfected into Mr. Potato Head using a modification of the calcium phosphate method (the modification used NaCl in place of calcium phosphate, and ketchup in place of the glycerol). The zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library shows partial phenotype of both parent organisms, and tastes great either raw or deep fried. A portion of the library is shown in Figure 4.
The zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library was screened using an expression assay. Specifically, the change in "expression" upon painful stimulus, and the ability of morphine to attenuate this change, was tested for each clone. One positive clone was identified which did not respond to an extremely painful stimulus in the presence of morphine (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Representative (actually, the only) clone from the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library which does not show a change in expression when subjected to a painful stimulus under the influence of morphine.
To confirm the morphine-induced insensitivity to pain, the unfortunate clone was dosed with 10 mg/kg morphine and then subjected to the blistering hot surface of the Therm-O-Swirl. In the presence of morphine, the poor clone lost all signs of a jumping reflex and is shown moments before bursting into flames (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Hot-plate test with positive clone from zucchini/Mr. Potato Head library.
To eliminate the possibility that this clone has simply lost the jumping reflex, rather than gaining the opiate receptor, the clone was tested in the absence of morphine. Without the drug, the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head clone showed a normal jumping reflex on the hot plate test (Figure 7, Panel A). Note the expression of fear on the clone. With 10 mg/kg morphine coursing through its veins, the blissed-out clone lost all concept of fear of hot surfaces, and did not display any survival instincts to escape from the hot surface (Figure 7, Panel B). Injection of naloxone fully restored the jumping reflex, and the apparent feeling of pain to the clone (Figure 7, Panel C). This is one unhappy clone!
The cDNA from the zucchini/Mr. Potato Head clone was isolated and sequenced, but since the actual order of the nucleotides is of interest only to our competitors, we have not shown the sequence. Go clone it yourself if you really want to know. We're holding this confidential until we get it published in a good journal, like Cell, Science, or Better Homes and Gardens.
img class="size-full wp-image-41649" title="450zucchini7" src="http://uploads.neatorama.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/450zucchini7.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="256" />Figure 7. Panel A: This is a clone. Panel B: This is a clone on drugs (10 mg/kg morphine). Panel C: This is a clone on even more drugs (10 mg/kg naloxone, in addition to the morphine). Any questions?
Thanks to Lakshmi, Mike, Mark, Bruce, and Jim for helping arrange and photograph the zucchini late one night in the Herbert lab. This work was previously presented as a poster at a Society for Neuroscience meeting in 1986, and is also to be included in an upcoming book to be published by HMS Beagle.
Literature Cited
1. Actually, we made this up, and have not ever really tasted zucchini.
2. "Behavioral Effects of Opiates in Plants," L.D. Fricker, I. Patch-Lindberg, and G. Mendel, III, J. Ir. Res., July, 1986.
3. On the Origin of Toy Species: Evolution or Creation? Charles Darwin VII, Archaic Press, New York.
(Color image credit: Flickr user ilovebutter)
_____________________
This article is republished with permission from the September-October 2001 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift!Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.
The following is an article from Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader.
Mix reality TV and Japanese game shows and throw in the plot of The Truman Show, and you've got this unbelievable true story.
MADE IN JAPAN
In January 1998, a struggling 23-year-old standup comedian known only by his stage name Nasubi (Eggplant) heard about an audition for a mysterious "show-business related job" and decided to try out for it.
The audition was the strangest one he'd ever been to. he producers of the popular Japanese TV show called Susunu! Denpa Sho-Nen (Don't Go For It, Electric Boy!) were looking for someone who was willing to be locked away in a one-bedroom apartment for however long it took to win a million yen (then the equivalent of about $10,000) worth of prizes in magazine contests.
Cameras would be set up in the apartment, and if the contestant was able to win the prizes, the footage would be edited into a segment called "Sweepstakes Boy." The contestant would be invited on the show to tell his story, and, with any luck, the national TV exposure would give a boost to his career. That was it- that was the reward (along with the magazine prizes).
SUCH A DEAL
As if that wasn't a weak enough offer, there was a catch -the contestant would have to live off the prizes he won. The apartment would be completely empty, and the contestant wouldn't be allowed to bring anything with him -no clothes, no food, no nothing. If we wanted to wear clothes, he had to win those, too. Nasubi passed the audition and agreed to take the job.
On the day of the contest, the producers blindfolded him and took him to a tiny one-bedroom apartment in an undisclosed location somewhere in Tokyo. The apartment was furnished with a magazine rack and thousands of neatly stacked postcards (for entering the contests), as well as a table, a cushion to sit on, a telephone, notepads, and some pens. Other than that, it was completely empty.
Nasubi stripped naked and handed his clothes and other personal effects to the producers. He stepped into the apartment, the door was locked behind him, and his strange adventure began.
Continue reading
Mix reality TV and Japanese game shows and throw in the plot of The Truman Show, and you've got this unbelievable true story.
MADE IN JAPAN
In January 1998, a struggling 23-year-old standup comedian known only by his stage name Nasubi (Eggplant) heard about an audition for a mysterious "show-business related job" and decided to try out for it.
The audition was the strangest one he'd ever been to. he producers of the popular Japanese TV show called Susunu! Denpa Sho-Nen (Don't Go For It, Electric Boy!) were looking for someone who was willing to be locked away in a one-bedroom apartment for however long it took to win a million yen (then the equivalent of about $10,000) worth of prizes in magazine contests.
Cameras would be set up in the apartment, and if the contestant was able to win the prizes, the footage would be edited into a segment called "Sweepstakes Boy." The contestant would be invited on the show to tell his story, and, with any luck, the national TV exposure would give a boost to his career. That was it- that was the reward (along with the magazine prizes).
SUCH A DEAL
As if that wasn't a weak enough offer, there was a catch -the contestant would have to live off the prizes he won. The apartment would be completely empty, and the contestant wouldn't be allowed to bring anything with him -no clothes, no food, no nothing. If we wanted to wear clothes, he had to win those, too. Nasubi passed the audition and agreed to take the job.
On the day of the contest, the producers blindfolded him and took him to a tiny one-bedroom apartment in an undisclosed location somewhere in Tokyo. The apartment was furnished with a magazine rack and thousands of neatly stacked postcards (for entering the contests), as well as a table, a cushion to sit on, a telephone, notepads, and some pens. Other than that, it was completely empty.
Nasubi stripped naked and handed his clothes and other personal effects to the producers. He stepped into the apartment, the door was locked behind him, and his strange adventure began.
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