Not once, not twice, but eight different times has Popular Science or Popular Mechanics magazine declared that the future of travel is the monowheel. Wesley Treat collected the covers of these issues for a retrospective spanning from 1914 to 2007. The "One-Man War Tank" shown is from 1933. Most impressive is that you could buy a magazine for fifteen cents! Link -Thanks, beth!

Here is an incredible papercraft recreation of Han Solo’s famous ship. The detail is extraordinary and true to the movies. This is a great project for inmates with a science fiction passion or any young man who has no desire to kiss girls in his teen years. If you’ve got the time, put it together and we’ll show it off proudly.

Make your own Millennium Falcon with a printable download from VectorVault. Link -Thanks, Adam!

Ronnie Dabal was fishing in Puerto Princesa Bay in the Philippines when a squall capsized his small boat. He avoided drowning by hanging onto a piece of styrofoam. 24 hours later, he woke up on the beach. He told a tale of being rescued by dolphins!

Dusk came as Dabal’s hopes started to vanish and a creeping darkness began to envelope him. From out of nowhere, a pod of around 30 dolphins and a pair of whales measuring about 10 meters in length came and started to flank him on both sides.

“Dumating yung mga dolphins. Ang dami nila. Tapos may lumapit na dalawang balyena. Dun sila sa tigkabilang tabi ko lumalangoy,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. (There were dolphins, lots of them. Then a pair of whales started swimming on both sides)

Dabal, 35 and father of two kids, swore it was not his mind playing tricks on him even as his energy was starting to fail him.

As he lay still on top of his piece of plastic board, Ronnie narrated how the dolphins would alternately nudge his tiny life raft using their pectoral fins towards the direction of land.

Dabal is a part-time dolphin warden for the bay. His duties include spotting dolphin groups for tourists and removing garbage from their territory. Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn was excited by the story.

“Ronnie’s experience is the greatest proof that what we are doing to protect our marine environment is worth all the effort that we are putting into it. I’d like to think that this is the animals’ way of also thanking us for helping protect their habitat,” said Hagedorn.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20081216-178325/Dolphins-save-Puerto-Princesa-fisherman -Thanks, Marco Martinez!

(image credit: Flickr user julesnene)

Every summer in Catalonia, Spain, teams of "Castellers" can be seen competing against each other to see who can build the highest human tower.

See more pictures at Oddee. Link -Thanks, Emily!

Dr. Carl Winter takes popular songs and changes the lyrics to incorporate food safety instructions. The results are funny! I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles becomes You Better Wash Your Hands, Heartache Tonight is turned into Stomachache Tonight, and We Are The Champions becomes We Are the Microbes. Many songs have accompanying videos. Link -via Eat Me Daily

Chessington Zoo in London has issued an apology to guests after giving the gorillas a Christmas treat of Brussels sprouts. The seasonal sprouts are highly nutritious, but the gorilla farts caused horror among people around them.

Gorilla keeper Michael Rozzi said: "We feed the gorillas brussel sprouts during the winter because they are packed with vitamin C and have great nutritional benefits.

"Unfortunately, an embarrassing side effect is that it can cause bouts of flatulence in humans and animals alike.

"However, I don't think any of us were prepared for a smell that strong."

The zoo has taken the sprouts off the menu while the zoo is open to the public. The gorillas will enjoy them when the zoo is closed on Christmas Day. http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157157175032?packedargs=aid%3D1157157175032%26suffix%3DArticleController -Thanks, Rich!

(YouTube link)
Just watch the slow-motion video, because this is something you don't ever want to actually do. -via Geeks Are Sexy

How much do you know about starfish? You know a lot more after reading the post at ScienceRay! Starfish are predators. They don't have real eyes, but they have light sensors. And they sometimes have more than five "arms", like the one pictured here. Link -Thanks, Amit!

(image credit: Flickr user candyonthebeach)

Rotterdam artist Bert Simons creates realistic sculpture portraits made of paper! See more in his portfolio, including sculptures of some European celebrities. Link -Thanks, Stephen Douge!

It may be the wrong time of year to think about how fat you are -or maybe it's the best time of year to change your habits before you put the pounds on! HealthAssist lists 14 habits you want to examine to turn your health around and either lose weight or avoid becoming fat. Some you are familiar with, but others may be news. Who knew the way you dress makes a difference in how active you are? Link -Thanks, Karen!

Re Jin hand paints ants on decals that she tranfers to these spoons! Just another way to make your dinner guests go home and never come back. Link -via J-Walk Blog

This is sweet! A collection of geographic hearts found all over the world. This forest is found in Cantabria, Spain. Link -Thanks, David E!

The Max Planck Institute in Germany printed a lovely poem in Chinese characters on the front of their latest journal issue. At least they thought so. They had consulted an expert on China to find the right poem, but the expert was German, not Chinese. After publication, it turns out the poem is actually an ad for a brothel!

The use of traditional Chinese characters and references to "the northern mainland" seem to indicate the text comes from Hong Kong or Macau, and it promises burlesque acts by pretty-as-jade housewives with hot bodies for the daytime visitor.

The cover has since been changed, and the institute has issued an apology. Link -Thanks, Daniel Kim!

Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy blog has selected his ten favorite astronomy pictures from the year 2008. His descriptions are as entertaining as the pictures! This one shows spiral galaxy NGC 7331, which is about 50 million light years away. Link -Thanks, Amos Kenigsberg!

The new Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai wants to provide every luxury to its guests. The latest planned innovation is a refrigerated beach!

The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.

The swimming pool will be refrigerated and there are also proposals to install giant blowers to waft a gentle breeze over the beach.

Versace's plans have shocked environmentalists. Rachel Noble, the campaigns officer at Tourism Concern, which promotes sustainable tourism, said that the carbon generated by such projects would contribute to climate change, whose worst effects would be felt by the poor.

“Dubai is like a bubble world where the things that are worrying the rest of the world, like climate change, are simply ignored so that people can continue their destructive lifestyles,” she said.

The hotel should open in late 2009 or early 2010. Link -Thanks, Chris Tackett!