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If the sheep animation by Cyriak was too creepy for you, check out his work with isometric fractals on this music video for the song "True Loves" (Cereal Spiller Remix) by Hooray For Earth. -via The Daily What

The USDA food pyramid was revamped in 2005 as My Pyramid, with more accurate but also more confusing information about recommended nutrition. Now it's been revamped again, and the pyramid is gone. The new graphic is called MyPlate, which somewhat resembles a pie chart laid on a table setting.

At a news conference Thursday morning, First Lady Michelle Obama, together with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, unveiled the new icon, called My Plate. The plate features four labeled sections: two larger, equally sized sections representing vegetables and grains, and two smaller sections for fruit and protein. Perched on the right side is a smaller circle for dairy — perhaps for a cup of yogurt or low-fat milk — and to the left sits a fork, completing the full dinner-plate effect.

"When it comes to eating, what's more useful than a plate, what's more simple than a plate?" Obama said. She called the new design "a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods we’re eating."

The balance between simplicity and comprehensiveness is never easy. Critics say the new MyPlate does not give enough information. Link to story. Link to website. -via J-Walk Blog

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A look at alkali metals and how they react with air and water may seem like a dry science lesson at first. Despite the delivery, this presentation builds as it goes along, with a satisfying climax at the end. -via Buzzfeed

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What can you possibly give a two-year-old dog to make him the happiest puppy in the world? Bunk will never forget this one! -via Buzzfeed

The one minute video from last week we called In Mommy's Arms has been watched 18 million times on YouTube! Most folks thought it was adorable, while a few warned us not to anthropomorphize animals. National Geographic asked Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, whether the behavior of the kitten and the mother cat was really what it appeared to be. Is the kitten dreaming? Is the mother hugging the kitten out of love? And why was the kitten twitching like that?

Humans and cats both have certain muscles that are for precision, as well as what are called larger “anti-gravity muscles” like those that lift your legs. Those larger ones are activated by a neurochemical called serotonin. During REM sleep, the brain’s serotonin system is shut off, which means the anti-gravity muscles are shut off. What’s not switched off are these highly-tuned muscles in things like eyes and extremities—what for us would be fingers and toes, but for them it’s paws and whiskers. This kitten is in the state of sleep some people call “the sleep of the body,” because the body is totally relaxed except for these tips of things twitching, while the brain is active and dreaming.

Dr. Dodman has plenty more to tell us about the cat and kitten, at NatGeo Daily News. Link -Thanks, Marilyn!

Actor Leslie Neilsen was known for his fart jokes. His gravestone, installed at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has one. The quote says, "Let 'er rip." Which could mean Rest in Peace, but we all know what he really meant. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/sfl-leslie-nielsen-gravestone-fort-lauderdale-pg,0,5624333.photogallery -via Screen Junkies

(Image credit: Amy Beth Bennett/Sun Sentinel)

Sometimes species are introduced to a new environment by mistake, and sometimes on purpose with the best of intentions. Often the unintended consequences are that the new species takes over and drives out native plants and/or animals because its natural controls are not in place in a different place. What to do? How about making the pest into the guest of honor at the dining table?

Take the Asian carp (please!). Imported from China in 1973 to clean algae from Southern ponds, the carp soon broke from their confines and infested Mississippi River waterways. Gobbling up the phytoplankton that support native species, the carp can grow four feet long and weigh 100 pounds. They continue to swim north and could establish themselves in the Great Lakes, the world’s largest freshwater system, and decimate native fish populations there. Wildlife managers have tried to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from reaching the Great Lakes by installing electric underwater fences and, occasionally, poisoning the water. But chefs from New Orleans to Chicago have also tried to put a dent in the population by putting the fish on their menu. Now, a researcher at the Aquaculture Research Center at Kentucky State University is trying to figure out how to harvest and promote carp as a food source. Currently, a few processing plants are converting Asian carp into ingredients for fertilizer or pet food. “That’s a shame, because the meat quality is excellent,” says Siddhartha Disgupta, an associate professor at the center. Disgupta argues that the carp has all the health benefits associated with eating fish and, since it eats low on the food chain, has few contaminants such as mercury that tend to be concentrated in the flesh of other fish species. He says he’s eaten Asian carp in various preparations and found it delicious.

Smithsonian looks at several programs designed to get people to consume more invasive species as a way to either control them or make the best of a bad situation. Link (Image credit: Flickr user Kate Gardiner)

Adam Ruben, PhD. wrote about what kind of parents scientists turn out to be -mainly geeky. The above is his imagery of what his child's birth "project" would look like in a peer-reviewed journal. The rest of the article is not only entertaining, but I can concur that it is pretty much accurate, as I was raised by a scientist father. Link -via Boing Boing

When L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, could the yellow brick road have been inspired by a road in Peekskill, New York? City historian John Curran thinks so, and has done the research. Baum attended Peekskill Military Academy in 1868, when he was 12 years old. He did not enjoy the experience.

Mr. Curran believes the ordeal shaped the Wizard of Oz. "Whenever Baum had an emotional experience, such as his two years at Peekskill Military Academy, it showed up in the book," Mr. Curran says during his Oz presentation at the museum. "Whenever the characters get off the yellow brick road, they get into trouble."

In 2005, a Fulbright scholar and artist persuaded John Testa, who was the mayor of Peekskill at the time, to conduct an authenticity study on the road. Mr. Curran uncovered maps showing that West Street, which leads from the steamboat dock up a hill to the military academy, was indeed made of Dutch pavers, a common yellow-hued brick in the Dutch-settled area.

The maps showed Mr. Baum had to have walked along the road to get to school, Mr. Curran said.

Only a small part of the road is still brick. Curran would like to restore the road, or build a monument of some sort to Oz, but the city does not have the money for such a project. Link -via The Daily What

(Image credit: Shelly Banjo/The Wall Street Journal)

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Cyriak Harris has a new animation, about sheep. They multiply. He calls it "Experiments in ovine geometry." -via Boing Boing

Previously: More of Cyriak's work.

It's once again time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what the pictured item is? Can you make up something interesting?

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

For more clues, check out the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

Update: Steve Pauk was the first one to know these are sniper's glasses; they were specifically made for the sharpshooters of the Civil War.  However, he did not select a t-shirt. The funniest answer came from Randall: "Eye training glasses, for G-men in the 30's. They helped develop that penetrating gaze that made the two-bit punks squirm like a toad in a vice while they were getting 'the treatment.'" Randall wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!

Economists do it with spreadsheets and charts. Architects favor balsa wood. But when a biologist needs a model, it’s gotta be alive. Here’s to the tiny critters that have inched our world forward, one microscopic step at a time.

1. Big Name: Shewanella oneidensis

(Image credit: Flicker user Justin Burns)

Why It Deserves a TV Special: Shewanella can go without air longer than David Blaine. If there’s no oxygen available, this crafty bacterium can switch gears and consume metal instead. Thanks to this remarkable skill, shewanella can live almost anywhere—from the surface of the Earth to the bottom of the ocean. Not surprisingly, scientists see the bacterium as the perfect model for studying how life evolved during the early days of the Earth, when oxygen was scarce.

How It’s Saving the Planet: No one knows exactly how shewanella’s alternative breathing method works. What scientists do know is that the process transfers extra electrons to metals. When shewanella breathe in uranium and chromium (metals that can be toxic to humans), the extra electrons change the metals so that they can’t move through ground water. In other words, shewanella can actually stop toxins in their tracks. And that’s good news, because dangerous metals sometimes leak from factories and dumps, poisoning our water supplies. Because shewanella can stop these pollutants, scientists are working on ways to protect lakes and streams by surrounding toxic waste sites with the bacteria.

2. Big Name: Escherichia coli
You Know It As: E. coli

(Image credit: Flickr user Carlos Rosas)

Don’t Believe What You Read: E. coli has a reputation as the scourge of the salad bar, but the vast majority of E. coli strains won’t make people sick. In fact, E. coli is one of the most important bacteria inside your intestinal tract. Scientists love working with it, because it’s a simple organism that reproduces quickly and because it contains the component parts of more complicated life forms, such as RNA and DNA.

How It Backs Up Darwin: Believe it or not, this infamous bacterium has done a lot to further our understanding of evolution. Because of its stunning ability to reproduce quickly, E. coli is an excellent model for tracing genetic mutations. In June 2008, New Scientist reported on a research project at the University of Michigan that investigated 44,000 generations of E. coli. Twenty years ago, the researchers started with a single bacterium; then they separated its descendants into isolated populations and watched them grow. Around generation No. 31,500, one population developed the ability to metabolize citrate, a nutrient in the culture of the petri dishes. It was the equivalent of one group of people—say, Europeans—suddenly being able to digest dirt. The researchers figured this ability was based on several mutations that just happened to eventually combine into a useful trait. Try as they might, the other populations never hit on this exact combination. According to New Scientist, the experiment suggests there’s a lot of chance involved in evolution. One group can randomly develop a useful ability that the other groups never acquire, even given enough time and resources.

3. Big Name: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Adorable Nickname: Chlamy

(Image credit: Flickr user Orange Coast College Biology Department)

Its Place on the Family Tree: Prominent. One of the oldest forms of life, these single-cell algae live at the evolutionary branch that separates animals and plants, meaning they share characteristics with both. For instance, chlamy can transform light into energy like a plant, but it can also swim like an animal by propelling itself through water with flagella (the same wiggly tails that are attached to sperm cells). While chlamy can offer us insight into various aspects of evolution, it’s also helping us tackle human disaease. Because the algae’s flagella resemble cilia, the tiny hair-like structures that line your organs, scientists also use chlamy to model and understand the cilia’s role in illnesses such as kidney and heart disease.

How It Will Solve the Energy Crisis: One of the byproducts of chlamy’s photosynthetic process is hydrogen, an element people will need en masse to drive hydrogen-powered cars. Right now, hydrogen fuel is derived from natural gas, a non-renewable resource. Scientists are hoping that in time, however, chlamy will provide a cheaper, safer, and greener way to produce large amounts of fuel.

4. Big Name: Caenorhabditis elegans

(Image credit: Flickr user moneydick)

Why Scientists Love It: This microscopic roundworm is see-through. No, really. Thanks to its transparent flesh, biologists can easily watch what’s going on inside. And there’s a lot to see. Despite being less than 1 millimeter long, this multi-cell worm has all the physiological systems of much larger animals. Better still, 35 percent of its genes are related to ours. Another Big Advantage: C. elegans are easy to care for, needing only a petri dish for a home and E. coli to eat.

How It Will Help Us Live Forever: Scientists have used C. elegans to study what happens to individual cells and entire organisms as they age. There are two dominant theories of aging: One theory posits that aging is a cumulative process of wear and tear on cells, while the other maintains that genes control aging. A recent study of C. elegans at Stanford University provided evidence for the latter. The study found that as the worms aged, levels of three transcription factors (molecular switches that turn genes on and off) become unbalanced. These changes triggered the genetic pathways that turn spry young worms into decrepit old ones. And because it’s a lot easier to control transcription factors than it is to prevent all the things that can damage cells (injury, disease, radiation), scientists are optimistic about finding a way to keep us young forever. As Rutgers researcher Monica Driscoll told Scientific American, “Once you’ve figured out what a key molecule is doing in the worm, you can look for it in humans and expect the same things to happen.”

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The article above, written by Maggie Koerth-Baker, is reprinted with permission from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

Be sure to visit mental_floss' website and blog for more fun stuff!



 

Mandy Jouan decorated Izzy's dog crate as a gift on the one-year anniversary of her adoption. She was scared to enter the box at first -can you blame her? Link -via Buzzfeed

(Image credit: Flickr user Sappymoosetree)

Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division is a group of World War II heroes you might know from the book or the miniseries Band of Brothers. They fought at the D-Day Invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and Operation Market Garden, and liberated concentration camps, yet they came home and went on with their lives. No one knew much about what they did until the book came out. But these men gained quite a bit of wisdom from their war experiences, tempered by age, which they gave us in their stories. The Art of Manliness took some of those quotes and made them into a series of awesome motivational posters. Link -via Gorilla Mask

Two people dressed a nuns robbed the West Englewood branch of TCF bank in Palos Heights, Illinois, Sunday afternoon. It was not the first robbery the branch has seen, according to detective Gerald Wodka.

This time two offenders entered the bank just minutes before closing time at 1:58 p.m., both with weapons, Wodka said.

They jumped over the counter and took control of two employees — a bank teller and the branch manager — ordered them to the vault where their Nike duffel bag was filled with currency, he said.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured. No customers were in the bank at the time. Police are not disclosing how much money was taken.

The robbers were dressed in black nun costumes as depicted in Ben Affleck’s movie, “The Town,” Wodka said.

Police are on the lookout for the suspects and their car, described at the Sun-Times. Link -via Arbroath