An unnamed Japanese woman reacted in anger after her virtual husband divorced her in the interactive game "Maple Story". She reacted by killing him -not the player, but his online avatar! The player whose online persona was murdered complained to police, who arrested the woman on suspicion of hacking. She used information she got from the other player in order to destroy his avatar. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

The world is full of artists, some who decorate entire cities with graffiti, posters, sculpture, and other media. You are already familiar with Banksy, so here are many other who deserve a look. This list contains links to expanded galleries for each artist, and links to any websites they have. The skull pictured is by NYC street artist Spazmat. http://streetsy.com/40artists.php -Thanks, Jon Jason!

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There are more species of mushrooms than you can imagine! David Fischer highlights quite a few you may have never heard of. Besides these color-changing mushrooms, you'll see mushrooms that stink, shoot spores, and glow in the dark. Link -Thanks, MoniA!

It looks like beans ARE really good for your heart!

The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out.

The new research found that cells lining mice’s blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents’ blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is “no doubt” produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said.

“Now that we know hydrogen sulfide’s role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension,” said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science.

Link -via reddit

(image credit: Towsonu2003)

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No matter what your politics are, the editing in this video is impressive! -via Milk and Cookies

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A Danish art collective, in collaboration with MIT, has built a prototype walking house!

The 10ft high home is solar and wind powered and can stroll at walking pace across all terrains.

It has a living room, kitchen, toilet, bed, wood stove and mainframe computer which controls the legs.

The pod will take its maiden stroll around rural Cambridgeshire at the Wysing Arts Centre in Bourn on Thursday.

Øivind Slaatto, one of the designers, plans to live in the house in Copenhagen. Link -via Arbroath

Greatest hits albums are often bestsellers because you get a lot of bang for your buck. Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss tests your knowledge of greatest hits albums -those that aren't titled "Greatest Hits". Can you identify who recorded the albums by their title? I only scored 60% -I was great with the older albums, but missed all the newer ones. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/19527

Read about ten monuments around the world that have become well-known as places for luck. The idea is that you should rub, kiss, or pat the monument, which leads to extreme polishing of certain parts. Shown is Ireland's Blarney Stone, the most famous of all, which should be kissed upside down! Link -via the Presurfer

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You've heard the saying, "There but for the grace of God go I"? More people than you realize have been homeless at least one time in their lives, including those who have gone on to find fame and fortune. Here are stories of 33 of them. You may be surprised to see who's on the list! For example, William Shatner:

Emmy Award-winning actor, director and best-selling Canadian-born American author. After the cancellation of the television series Star Trek, in which he starred, he travelled the east coast of the U.S. appearing in a play on the summer theater circuit and sleeping in a camper with his dog, a Doberman pinscher. “I now had three children and an ex-wife to support and I was just about broke,” he told the Daily Mail in May, 2008. “I lived out of the back of my truck, under a hard shell. It had a little stove, a toilet, and I’d drive from theater to theater. The only comfort came from my dog, who sat in the passenger seat and gave me perspective on everything.”

Link -via Digg

You may remember Alek Komarnitsky as the internet sensation of 2004 who was first unmasked as a hoaxer, then made a lifetime project out of decorating his home for Christmas and involving internet users to help fight celiac disease. He also decorates for Halloween, and you can control with his decorations with your computer! Link -Thanks, Alek!

You've heard about people who quit school to join the circus, but Eak the Geek quit life as a Coney Island sideshow freak to go to law school! Eduardo Arrocha is now a first year student at the Thomas M Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Despite the dramatic change of direction, the jump from Coney Island to Cooley Law wasn’t a sudden move. Eak considered the profession for more than 10 years, and actually grew up with the subject in his native Mexico. Although tattoos cover Eak’s face, law is in his blood; his father is a corporate lawyer and serves as the legal director for Coca-Cola Latin America. “In corporate law, he’s as big as you can get,” Eak says proudly.

But it was the repetitive nature of Eak’s job that finally convinced him to turn to the bar – he performed the same bed of nails act at the same freakshow every day, for over six months a year.

“I was getting bored with Coney Island towards the end,” he reveals. “There’s only so much I could do with the character of Eak The Geek. My creativity was limited, and I didn’t get an opportunity to develop my act.”

And Arrocha won't let his all-over tattoos stand in the way of his law career.

“If you’re as tattooed as I am, you’re not really a trailblazer in the sideshow,” Eak explains. “If you look the way I do, it’s no surprise you do that kind of work. That’s what people expect. But if you look like me and you’re in law school, then that’s a real surprise.”

In fact, changing that perception might be a bigger victory than any he’ll achieve in the courtroom. Once he qualifies and begins to practice as the world’s most tattooed lawyer,Eak would like to work with the alternative community and offer representation for business or housing needs. “In New York you meet so many weird-looking people who are incredibly successful, but aren’t part of the mainstream,” he says. “They get snubbed a lot.”

Link -Thanks, Kate!

This slideshow comic from Matthew Inman makes me want to grow a beard, but I don't think that's going to happen! Link -Thanks, Jon Jason!

Midori-san is a hoya kerrii, or sweetheart plant, that has its own personal blog!

Midori-san, which lives on the counter of a Japanese café, writes regular updates with the help of sensors attached to its leaves.

The detectors pick up electronic signals on the surface of the plant, which responds to light and human touch.

The data is then combined with weather and temperature information and translated into chatty blog posts using a computer algorithm.

"Today was a sunny day and I was able to sunbathe a lot... I had quite a bit of fun today," it wrote on October 16 from its cafe in Kamakura, near Tokyo.

A more recent entry was less perky: "It was cloudy today. It was a cold day."

Link -via Arbroath

I believe this is the link to the blog, but it seems to be overloaded right now.

A food blogger catches a team of package designers having a little fun in the frozen broccoli! You have to look very close to see the faces (possibly the designers') added into the "serving suggestion" picture on the package. They are easier to see thanks to macrophotography. Link -Thanks, Jon Jason!

When urban sprawl meets sacred ground, unusual things happen. Here are seven instances of preserved cemeteries surrounded by parking lots! Imagine seeing the final resting place of your area's early settlers in front of your local Home Depot. Shown is the grave of Mary Ellis, who died in 1826.

Mary, who came to New Brunswick in the 1790s to live with her sister, fell in love with a sea captain who promised to marry her once he returned from his next voyage. The captain then left Mary his horse and sailed off down the Raritan River.

Every day, Mary rode her lover's steed down to the river, hoping to meet him at the water's edge. For years, she gazed at the river, waiting for his return. In 1813, she purchased a plot of land overlooking the river, where she maintained her vigil until her death in 1826. And there she was buried, forever waiting for her captain.

The grave is now surrounded by a movie theater parking lot in New Jersey. Read more at Wesley Treat's Roadside Blog. Link -Thanks, Bethany Nelson!