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A farmer in south Armagh, Northen Ireland, thought someone was trying to steal his cattle, as they were found outside several times after being locked in the barn for the night. When a camera was installed in the barn, the culprit was found. It was Daisy, the smartest of the cows. Link -via Arbroath

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Simon's Cat retrieves a toy from under the refrigerator. I have a cat that does exactly this. -via The Daily What

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A beautiful time-lapse video of the night sky over Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, from Daniel Dragon Films. The Outer Banks is a wonderful place that I've visited for vacation dozens of times. Learn more about the stars you see here at Bad Astronomy Blog. Link

If you are looking for a secure place to live, good luck. You probably won't be able to gain access to the most secure places on earth, which are designed to protect riches, property, documents, military secrets, and VIPs. You could probably guess this one:

4. Area 51

The famed stories be true or not, this area in the remote deserts of Las Vegas is more than just strange. It is also one of the most secure locations on the planet. It is a United States military base ( a detachment from Edwards Air Force Base in CA) where no one knows what’s occurring, except those that work there and the President. Known by many names (Groom Lake, Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, etc.) Area 51 is believed to be a testing ground for advanced and experimental aircraft.

Can you guess some of the others before you go read the list? Link -via the Presurfer

Sean Murphy of South Yorkshire, England, tried to remove a wart from his finger the old-fashioned way... with a gun. Murphy was at work when he aimed a stolen 12-bore Beretta shotgun at the offending wart. He ended up shooting off most of his middle finger.

But he said: “The best thing is that the wart has gone. It was giving me lot of trouble.”

Murphy, a security officer at Markham Grange Nurseries, Brodsworth, at the time of the incident in March, has since lost his job. He had suffered with the wart on the joint closest to the tip of his middle finger for more than five years.

He said: “It was hurting a lot and causing my finger to bend. I’d been to the doctors and tried all sorts of things but it wouldn’t go.

“I didn’t expect to lose my finger as well when I shot it but the gun recoiled and that was it. The wart was gone and so was most of my finger. There was nothing left, so no chance to re-attach it.”

Murphy was arrested for theft of the gun and other firearms charges. Prosecutors said alcohol was involved. Link -via Arbroath

Whether you are the Jaws type or The Little Mermaid type, you'll love this clever swimsuit that features both! http://shop.blackmilkclothing.com/product/shark-v-s-mermaids -via Geeks Are Sexy

You remember the Sy-Fy movie Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, in which an oversized shark leaped from the ocean and snagged an airliner? That was fantasy, but there are real sharks that can leap up to ten feet above the water! Chris and Monique Fallows of Apex Shark Expeditions have been following and photographing great whites and other sharks for 16 years. You can see 19 of their amazing pictures at National Geographic. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

(Image credit: Chris Fallows)

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June 16th is Captain Picard Day! Captain John-Luc Picard is the commander of the USS Enterprise in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Read about the origins and the reasoning behind the holiday at Geeks Are Sexy. Link

Also enjoy some fan art at a blog set up just for the occasion called, appropriately enough, Captain Picard Day. Link

Not all spiders are dangerous, but those that are can be pretty scary! The good news is that the most venomous spiders are not found in one place, but are spread all over the globe. The bad news is that there's probably at least one of these species on your continent! Pictured is the Fringed Ornate Tarantula (which sounds like a home decor item). Learn about all ten spiders at Environmental Graffiti. Link

You know these two fine-looking young men, even if you've never seen a photograph of either one before. They are both featured at My Daguerreotype Boyfriend, a photo blog dedicated to the hotties of history, dating back to the invention of the camera. Really, who knew that Hermann Rorschach (of the ink blots) resembled Brad Pitt? The site is accepting submissions of more attractive public domain photographs. In case you are still wondering about the guys here, on the left is Almanzo Wilder, husband of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. On the right is Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov. Link -via Metafilter

Firefighters in Bridgend, Wales, were called to a home in Pontycymer because a sheep had been spotted walking around on the roof. A fireman at the scene said,

“We have never had anything like that before, though we have found sheep in some difficult places.

“It was running back and forward on the roof, but eventually it must have realised how many firefighters were there trying to get it down and thought, I’d better come down now, I think.

The sheep was absolutely fine and not harmed at all, and it was certainly an interesting call-out, it’s not where you’d expect to find a sheep, really quite funny.

“It brightened up our weekend, that’s for sure.”

The sheep was back on the ground about 40 minutes after the fire crew arrived. Link -via Arbroath

Writers are constantly told of the importance of editing: say it in fewer words. At the Webby Awards ceremony last weekend, the representatives of the winning websites were limited to an acceptance speech of only five words. Each had to really think about what was important to say. Some speeches were funny, some political, some designed to leave a memorable impression of the website behind. And they came up with some gems, like this speech from Scott Beale of Laughing Squid (pictured):

"These tentacles go to eleven!"

TIME magazine made of list of what they considered the ten best speeches.

3. Kids, we're going to Disneyland.
—Jetsetter won a Webby for Best Travel website.

8. Person of the Year. Ironic.
—The Webby Person of the Year Award went to IBM supercomputer Watson, who cracked wise with the audience.

What if you were given the opportunity to speak before a large audience, but could only say five words? What would you say to leave an impression? You can read all the winners' 5-word acceptance speeches at the Webby Awards site. http://www.webbyawards.com/press/speeches.php

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An animated short film about a man with an appetite for fine art, by ChezEddy. (via Metafiler)

Remember mood rings? They were fun for a while, but kind of useless. Now the same kind of technology has an important purpose. In research sponsored by the government of Australia, a team of scientists have developed fabric that monitors temperature and shows it by changing color. Bandages made from this fabric can relay information about the healing process underneath.

Their invention could reduce the $500 million cost of chronic wound care in Australia.
“We hope that the dressing could lead to more rapid and effective treatment of chronic wounds such as leg ulcers, saving time and money, as well as improving patient well-being,” says the lead inventor Louise van der Werff, a CSIRO materials scientist and Monash University PhD student.

“We’ve created a fabric that changes colour in response to temperature – showing changes of less than 0.5 of a degree. We expect that, when incorporated into a bandage it will allow nurses to quickly identify healing problems such as infection or interruptions to the blood supply, which are typically accompanied by a local increase or decrease in temperature,” she says.

A bandage manufacturer is working with the team, and expects the product to be in the testing stage in about six months. Link -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Louise van der Werff, CSIRO)

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After surgery, Lucy had to wear a protective collar (the cone of shame). In her first attempt, she found her normal method of walking up the stairs was difficult, so she quickly came up with her own workaround. -via reddit