Hotel Fox in Copenhagen invited 21 artists from all over the world to decorate their 61 rooms.
Each room is an individual piece of art. From wacky comical styles to strict graphic design. From fantastic street art and Japanese Manga to simply spaced out fantasies. You will find flowers, fairytales, friendly monsters, dreaming creatures, secrets vaults and…
The room pictured was designed by Los Angeles artist Simone Legno, also known as tokidoki. Link -via Dump Trumpet
Teaching has never been an easy profession, but at least most teachers don’t have to start the fire in this century! That was probably a dangerous task while wearing two petticoats. Link -via Phil's Phun
Then I found these rules from 1872 at the Rusk County Historical Society Museum. Among them:
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly. 5. After ten hours on school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the bible or other good books. 6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed. 7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly stime of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
In other words, live your life exactly as we tell you to, but don't expect a pension. Link
A 65-year-old Finnish man received a new upper jaw that was grown in his abdomen using his own stem cells. Scientists had isolated stem cells from the patient's fat, and sorted out the type of cells that could grow into bone tissue. The cells were applied to a custom jaw-shaped scaffold and implanted in his abdomen for nine months. Tissues grew around the scaffolding, which was removed and attached to the man’s skull to replace his upper jaw, which had been removed due to a tumor.
"There have been a couple of similar-sounding procedures before, but these didn't use the patient's own stem cells that were first cultured and expanded in laboratory and differentiated into bone tissue," said Riitta Suuronen of the Regea Institute of Regenerative Medicine, part of the University of Tampere.
She told a news conference the patient was recovering more quickly than he would have if he had received a bone graft from his leg.
"From the outside nobody would be able to tell he has been through such a procedure," she said.
Growing custom parts from a patient’s own stem cells not only bypasses the shortage of organs, but also eliminates the risk of tissue rejection. Link -via Metafilter
How similar are housecats and lions? In this TV clip from Japan Probe, you can see how lions play with cat toys, fall under the spell of catnip, learn to open a door, and deal with mirrors. Link -via Arbroath
Scientists report that a new species of animal has been found in Tanzania. Rhynochocyon udzungwensis {wiki} is a type of giant elephant shrew, also called a sengi. The species was first observed on film in 2005, and specimens were collected in 2006. The animal is not a shrew, but is closely related to a group of African mammals which include elephants, sea cows, aardvarks and hyraxes.
"This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career," said Galen Rathbun, from the California Academy of Sciences, who helped to confirm the animal was new to science along with an international team of colleagues.
It is the first new species of elephant shrew discovered in 126 years. The BBC described it as looking like “ a cross between a miniature antelope and a small anteater.” Link -via the Presurfer
Update 2/1/08 by Alex - Conservation International has the photo gallery (and later in the week, a chat with one of the members of the expedition team) - Thanks Lindsay Walter-Cox!
The folks at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories made their own LED pegboard and named it Peggy. You can change the design or message any time you like without rewiring it, and you can program individual lights to go on and off. You can make your own with a kit and some downloadable instructions. Link
Indy Mogul has posted two Instructables on grisly special effects for film that you can do yourself, How To Rip a Heart Out of Someones Chest (a la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), and a Decapitation Effect. With videos. These could be handy for Halloween, too! Link to heart effect. Link to head affect.
A rare Sumatran rhino {wiki} was born at the Cincinnati Zoo on April 29, 2007. The Sumatran Rhinoceros is a critically endangered species: estimates are that only 300 exist in the wild. The mother is named Emi and the baby is named Harapan. They call him Harry. Wait til you hear his first sound! Link -via Arbroath
Forbes has published their first list of America’s Most Miserable Cities. This survey is based on each city’s crime rate, inflation, unemployment, commute times, toxic waste, weather, and taxes. The top ten are:
1. Detroit, MI 2. Stockton, CA 3. Flint, MI 4. New York City 5. Philadelphia, PA 6. Chicago, IL 7. Los Angeles, CA 8. Modesto, CA 9. Charlotte, NC 10. Providence, RI
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable.html -via J-Walk Blog
Britain’s first playground for people over age 60 has opened in Manchester. The specially-designed equipment provides not only fun, but movement and exercise to benefit the elderly.
Residents' association chairman Joan FitzGerald said: "When we tested it all the people we took in were over 70 and I have never heard so much laughing. I believe you are never too old to play and this also helps keep you fit."
The playground is next to a children’s playground, so children can watch their grandparents having fun. Link -via Unique Daily
The secret to a good cheeseburger is its freshness. Hot off the grill, with crisp vegetables if you like. Not the kind of food you’d think to put in a can. The graphics on this German site make it clear this product is intended to pack for outdoor sports such as canoeing, but I can’t help but feel you should go with something you’d expect to eat out of a can. Maybe soup. http://www.trekking-mahlzeiten.de/trekking-mahlzeiten-online-shop/produkte/Zwischenmahlzeiten_507/Cheeseburger_in_der_Dose_4641.html -via Cynical-C
Montage-a-google is an online application that builds a montage of images from Google Search. Type in your search term, and the grid is generated automatically. The montage here was generated by the term “Neatorama”. The actual image is larger. Link -via the Presurfer
The Museum of Organs is a gallery of the most beautiful instruments in Europe dating back hundreds of years, and modern pipe organs as well. This picture is of the cathedral of Lavaur, Haut-Garonne, France.
The organ dates from 1523. The case, which was built by the carver Nicolas Bachlier, is one of the most luxurious examples from 16th century in Southern France. The present instrument was built by A. Cavaillé-Coll in 1876.
