The iconic American fire helmet was designed in 1731, with the basic shape that is still recognizable. Safety comes first, but tradition dictates the helmet's shape, the significance of its color, and how it is personalized. In fact, firefighters usually reject the different shape of the European helmet, despite its advantages.

The last type is the European-style helmet, which looks like a cross between a motorcycle helmet and something from Star Wars. The design is purportedly much more comfortable and practical. But, as one firefighter put it, "I've been involved with fire departments in four states...and in seven years have seen a grand total of two [European-style] helmets... these guys were... universally afraid of being mocked for wearing something new, different or 'unfashionable.'"

Shown is a helmet from the 18th century. Link -via Boing Boing

Imagine a fancy luncheon -served on a subway train! That's exactly what happened in New York City on Sunday, aboard the L train bound for Brooklyn. The guests only knew they were there for an "underground dining experience." What they got was an experience, all right.

The event was the work of several supper clubs, and the menu they devised was luxurious: caviar, foie gras and filet mignon, and for dessert, a pyramid of chocolate panna cotta, dusted with gold leaf. All of it was accessible with a MetroCard swipe (Michele handed out single-ride passes) and orchestrated with clockwork precision. The six-course extravaganza took only a half-hour.

It wasn’t rush hour, so seating was easy. The tables (lap-width black planks, with holes cut to fit water glasses) were tied to the subway railings with twine. Tucking in behind them felt something like being buckled into a roller coaster. At 1:30 p.m., a few minutes ahead of schedule, the train lurched off.

It was a lovely meal, but it was, after all, illegal.

Paul Smith, a CUNY professor, encountered the meal on his way home to the East Village and was invited to join. “I had this fantastic lunch,” he said, “very exquisite. And then I thought, am I going to get arrested?”

There was no sign of the police or even a conductor, but officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, reached on Monday, were not amused. “A dinner party on the L train?” said Charles F. Seaton, a spokesman for the authority. “No. Subway trains are for riding, not for holding parties.”

In deference to the authority’s rules, the hosts did not offer alcohol. This did not assuage Mr. Seaton. “No beverages at all with open containers,” he said.

After clean-up, the organizers called it a job well done. They had spent over $1600 on the stunt, but the publicity for pulling it off was well worth it. Link -Thanks, Bill!

(Image credit: Yana Paskova for The New York Times)

(YouTube link)

Craig Turner has a problem with neighborhood cats peeing on his property. They spray the house, doors, car, and worst of all, the air conditioning vents. I would just get a dog (which I did), but Turner constructed a homemade defense that involves cameras, motions sensors, and lots of planning. How successful was it? You'll have to watch the entire video to find out. Warning: urination. -via Metafilter

Today, it being May the 4th, is Star Wars Day! Geeks Are Sexy has a roundup of fun Star Wars entertainment to celebrate. And May the Fourth be with you. http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/05/04/happy-star-wars-day-2/

(YouTube link)

Wow, a dancing human marshmallow with the voice of Elmo! This very strange but catchy video is from Finnish actor and comedian Riku Nieminen, who plays a character called Munamies (Egg Man). The name of this song, "Pomppufiilis" translates to English as "Bouncy Feeling." -via The Daily What

Silly Putty was invented by accident when GE engineer James Wright was working to develop new types of rubber for the US military during World War II.

Wright spent over a year experimenting with different combinations of chemical compounds, hoping to produce a synthetic, “hard rubber” silicone that could withstand the high heat of jet engines or the freezing cold of nights on Navy ships. Towards the end of the summer in 1943, he and his team tried adding boron nitride as filler to an experimental silicone compound. But the scientists then learned that the substance they thought was boron nitride was actually a mixture of other chemical compounds, including boric acid. So they tried adding just boric acid.

The rest, as they say, is history. The resulting substance was gooey, not hard. Frustrated, Wright threw the goop onto the floor and to his surprise, it bounced right back up at him. A reporter from the Saturday Evening Post described the scene in a story (which, alas, is not online): “‘Golly,’ the scientist exclaimed as he dropped a ball of silicone putty, ‘look at it bounce!’”

They weren't sure what to do with the stuff, but they had fun playing with it. Read how this mistake became the classic putty toy we all know and love. http://www.gereports.com/the-amazing-origin-of-silly-putty/

In the 1950s, nuclear power was seen as the answer to everything. Engineers were working on nuclear powered planes, automobiles, and trains, and searching for other ways to use the power of the atom. Read about some of the inventions that seem far-fetched today, but were just on the horizon at one time, at Dark Roasted Blend. Link

(vimeo link)

Just in time for Mothers Day, StoryCorps has a new animation. No More Questions! features feisty 87-year-old Kay Wang. This should inspire you to enjoy your mother as much as you can if you still have her. Link -thanks, Krisi Packer!

We don't often post recipes here at Neatorama, but this post is worth your time even if you never intend to cook any of these! Have you ever heard of Chinese lasagna? Lasagna cupcakes (pictured)? Bacon and egg lasagna? Deep-fried lasagna? See a dozen of these strange dishes at FoodieBlog. Link -Thanks, Danny!

(YouTube link)

In order to explain a nuclear fission reaction, the folks at Harvard University set up a grid of mousetraps and ping pong balls.

In a nuclear reactor or atom bomb, a fissile material such as 235U can capture a neutron. The resulting unstable nucleus fragments into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy and several neutrons (a typical equation is given below). Each of these neutrons can in turn cause the fission of a 235U nucleus. If there is above a critical concentration of fissile material, this chain reaction will continue unaided, and if unregulated, can result in a very loud bang.

We have a 120 × 70 × 100cm high plexiglass case, onto whose base we set a 5 × 20 array of mouse traps. 1 Onto each trap is rested a ping-pong ball. The traps represent the fissile atoms, and the balls the neutrons. When an extra ping-pong ball is dropped through a hole in the top of the case, it lands on an triggers a trap. Now there are two ping-pong balls each capable of setting off a trap. Thus a chain reaction ensues; the whole explosion lasts about three seconds.

Also read an overview of how this contraption was built, in case you want to reproduce this effect yourself. Link -via Arbroath

As many times as I've seen the 1932 Disney cartoon The Three Little Pigs, I have never noticed the portrait of the wall of "Father." Have you? Link

(YouTube link)

Andrew McMurry made this short film in which Seth plays the game in the great (real) outdoors. -Thanks, Andrew!

You'll find Ed's Martian Book on Hudson Street in the West Village neighborhood in New York City. It has piles of books to sell, but they are all the same title: Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days With the Phoenix Mars Mission by Andrew Kessler. There's no Ed, either. Kessler runs the store.

The book is Mr. Kessler’s account of NASA’s 2008 Phoenix Mars Lander mission, reported during 90 days inside mission control, in Tucson, alongside 130 leading scientists and engineers. Publishers Weekly calls the book a “slightly offbeat firsthand account of scientific determination and stubborn intellect” that “delivers a fascinating journey of discovery peppered with humor.”

The store is part marketing ploy, to be sure (Mr. Kessler is a creative director at an advertising agency), but also part meditation on the meaning of the book in an age of e-readers and a bankrupt Borders.

“This makes books feel like an art installation,” he said. “We should care about them.”

Mr. Kessler said he was inspired by restaurants like the Meatball Shop on the Lower East Side. “I was thinking about people that just sell one thing really well,” he said. Religions, he reasoned, ply a single book. Why can’t a bookstore? He calls himself the Monobookist.

The store will be open until mid-May, when the new (paying) tenant is scheduled to move in. Link -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Guy Calaf for The New York Times)

(YouTube link)

Russian skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov did a Super Mario routine at the World Figure Skating Championships that ended Saturday in Moscow. They came in second. Link -via The Daily What Geek

(vimeo link)

Oh no! This place is infested with coins! This short stop-motion animation was produced by Olly Newport. -via Laughing Squid