Wine company Carlo Rossi is challenging its customers to make something out of its wine jugs. The Jug Simple Furniture Collection was used as examples. See a wine jug chandelier, speaker system, lamp, bookshelves, and this sofa at The World’s Best Ever. Link -via Dump Trumpet

Robotics engineers at the University of Tokyo have designed a robot that jumps like a frog. And looks like one! The robot, named Mowgli, can also kick a soccer ball. The point is a study of musculature and kinetics, but the end result is quite cool. Gizmodo has the video. Link

This is real sign for a real town in California. A town with a sense of humor! Link -via J-Walk Blog

A baby boy walrus was born at the New York Aquarium in June and was first shown to the public just yesterday. He weighed 115 pounds at birth, and is expected to weigh a ton when full grown. Link -via Fark

Watching cars do an intricate group dance is nice, but it’s even better when something goes wrong! Push play or go to YouTube. -via the Presurfer

Our modern age has seen several designs for propeller-driven trains. And cars. And a bicycle. And even a sled! See them all at deputy dog. http://deputy-dog.com/2007/09/27/7-unusual-propeller-driven-vehicles/

It's an ad for insurance in Thailand, but that's not important. This made me cry. Push play or go to YouTube. -via BrandweekNRX

The 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge awards are given by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science. This image is a CT scan of the structure inside the human nose, one of the winners in the photography category. See more winners at National Geographic. Link

Have you ever had the urge to play chess in the dark? Now you can! This chess set is illuminated with LEDs in the chessboard. Designed by Daan Van Tulder. http://judag.com/art-design/amazing-chess-with-led-set -via Geek Like Me

Joshua Budich has an extensive collection of Star Wars action figures. He made tiny pictures of each one, with a linked description, and posted it on his website. http://www.joshuabudich.com/SWCollection/ -via Metafilter

Flickr user manmadepants http://www.flickr.com/photos/borrowed/ uploaded this photo with the story that explains it.

I swear on my life this is 100% real. I was walking down the street looking for stuff to photograph and this guy is just sitting outside a coffee shop with this 80 year old woman and he is taking these little sofa things out of a bag. Then he opens another compartment in the bag and there are about five lizards like this guy. Then he would pose them and they would just sit there like this. Don't really know why.

Link -via Reddit

The Open School of Art, founded by artist Karoly Koffan, was a legitimate school, but also became a front to save Jews in Budapest during World War II. Lauren Krupa is collecting stories from teachers and students who worked to protect and save friends during the German occupation of Hungary in 1944 and 1945, in order to make a documentary film. Here is one such story:

Precise information from an informer led an officer of the Arrow Cross militia to search for a Jewish man who had slipped away from the ghetto at the studio of painter Lajos Szentivanyi. There was no time to arrange a proper hiding place, and the Jew simply concealed himself behind a screen in a room that was bad for hiding in, his yellow shoes peeking out beneath it. Fortunately, in the room was a spectacular nude painting that Szentivanyi was working on and from which the officer could not look away. Whether or not he saw the shoes, he stopped searching, spoke a few words to Szentivanyi and left.

Read more at Haaretz.com. Link -via Fark

Sandy at mental_floss has compiled A Disturbingly Long List of Celebrity Motorbike Crash-ups. 28 of them, to be exact! You may remember some of these from the news, but I bet you will be surprised by some. Link

Just for fun: Mt. Rushmore sings The Teddy Bears Picnic. Link -via the Presurfer

Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Picture found at Bits and Pieces.