From the title of today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, regular Neatorama readers might think you'll be asked to identify the tattoos of celebrity's faces people wear to show their fandom. But no, in this quiz you are asked to identify a celebrity from the tattoos they have themselves. I scored 50%, surprisingly because I didn't even know the celebrities, much less their tattoos! Good luck. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/27988

The Minneapolis StarTribune hosted their first annual Hot Dog Dressing Contest for Independence Day. The weiner winners included the pictured entry entitled "Dog Gone" by Mel Ferrer and Joanne Haas. You can see all the dressed dogs in their slide show. http://www.startribune.com/galleries/49629097.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiacyKUUr -via Buzzfeed

In 1971, Juliane Koepcke was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed 91 people over Peru. She fell two miles and landed in the rain forest. The 17-year-old Koepcke then walked for ten days through jungle terrain to find help.

As she travelled downstream, Koepcke discovered more wreckage from the plane -- and found some of the crash victims.

"I found another row of seats with three dead women still strapped in. They had landed head-first and the impact must have been so hard that they were buried almost two feet into the ground.

"I was horrified -- I didn't want to touch them but I wanted to make sure that my mother wasn't one of them. So I took a stick and knocked a shoe off one of the bodies. The toe nails had nail polish on them and I knew it could not have been my mother because she never used nail polish."

Juliane continued through the rainforest, wading through jungle streams infested with crocodiles, piranhas and devil rays.

Koepcke is now a librarian in Munich. Read the whole story and see a video interview at CNN. Link -via reddit

(YouTube link)
This is a music video for "Hibi no Neiro" (Tone of everyday) by Sour. The people in it are fans of the band, and the whole thing was shot on webcams all over the world. At first, you think that using fans and webcams would be the cheap and easy way to produce a video, but then you see the result and realize how challenging this must have been to coordinate and edit. -via Metafilter

90-year-old Rachel Veitch of Orlando, Florida has been driving the same 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente since it was new. Now she has racked up 557,000 miles on the odometer -and it's still going great!

Unlike her three husbands, Veitch says, the Mercury has "never lied to me, never cheated on me, and I can always depend on her."

Veitch is on her seventh Midas muffler, and thank you, gentlemen, for the lifetime warranty. She's had three sets of Sears shock absorbers, also through a lifetime warranty. And though the number seems high, she claims to have had 16 free batteries, courtesy of J.C. Penney and Firestone.

"She's demonstrating the perfect way to take care of a car," says Mike Hardie, director of global quality and productivity for Ford Motor Co., and that's what makes her a menace.

"If everyone did that," he says, "we'd never sell another one, so don't spread it around too far."

If the engine ever goes out, Veitch may be in trouble, because they are no longer manufactured. Link -via the Presurfer

Three new species of diniosaur have been found in the Australian outback. Two plant-eating species were nicknamed "Clancy" and "Matilda". The third dinosaur is a carnivore dubbed Australovenator Wintonensis, but nicknamed Banjo.

The meat-eating Banjo has been dubbed Australia's answer to the feared Velociraptor.

“The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile,” said Queensland Museum paleantologist Scott Hocknull, who is among the scientists being credited with the discoveries.

“He could run down most prey with ease over open ground. His most distinguishing feature was three large slashing claws on each hand. Unlike some theropods that have small arms (think T. rex), Banjo was different; his arms were a primary weapon.

“He’s Australia's answer to velociraptor, but many times bigger and more terrifying.”

The bones will eventually go on display to the public. Link -via Fark

We hardly ever look at ceilings, but they can make a world of difference in the mood of a room. Architecture fan deputy dog has a roundup of beautiful ceilings from all over. He is still looking for an explanation of this ceiling. Pictured is a ceiling at Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. http://deputy-dog.com/2009/07/ceiling-porn.html

(YouTube link)
Sweet, safe, and delicious fireworks, from PES. -via Buzzfeed

Humans have always been fascinated with the salamander's ability to regenerate lost limbs. Now scientists studying salamander genes have discovered that the process isn't quite as complicated as once thought.

By tracking individual cells in genetically modified salamanders, researchers have found an unexpected explanation for their seemingly magical ability to regrow lost limbs.

Rather than having their cellular clocks fully reset and reverting to an embryonic state, cells in the salamanders’ stumps became slightly less mature versions of the cells they’d been before. The findings could inspire research into human tissue regeneration.

“The cells don’t have to step as far back as we thought they had to, in order to regenerate a complicated thing like a limb,” said study co-author Elly Tanaka, a Max Planck Institute cell biologist. “There’s a higher chance that human or mammalian cells can be induced into doing the same thing.”

Researchers are hopeful, but also aware that early experiments in replicating this cell process can lead to uncontrolled growth, meaning cancers. Link

Even our fine feathered friends are getting into alternative energy! This birdhouse design from Studio Oooms has a solar panel on the roof, and a translucent perch that lights up at night. The idea is that the light will attract bugs that the bird can feast upon. Genius! Link -via J-Walk Blog

A cat named Tango became the accidental star of the BBC TV show Question Time, hosted by David Dimbleby.

One-year-old Tango became the star of the discussion programme after finding his way into the school hall where it was being recorded.

He ducked under a desk and headed towards the panel. At first, Dimbleby and guests including employment minister Jim Knight and Tory security spokesman Dame Pauline Neville-Jones were oblivious to his presence.

But as he pawed under the table he caught the eye of LibDem MP Julia Goldsworthy, who in astonishment mouthed the word 'cat' at the production team.

Meanwhile, Jackie Ellery of Newquay, England hadn't seen her cat Tango in hours. As she wondered about his whereabouts, she sat down to watch TV.

She said: 'My friend phoned me to say, "Have you seen your cat on the telly?" And there he was.

'It's lovely - he's a mischievous cat anyway and because we live so close to the school he's often in the school grounds.'

Tango, who returned to his owner that night, has since become something of a celebrity. Mrs Ellery said: 'I've even been asked for his paw-tograph.'

Link - via Arbroath

The video:

[YouTube Clip]

Independence Day in the United States is always July 4th. Most people just call it the Fourth of July, so moving it is out of the question. Other commemorations occur on different days in different years. Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test your knowledge of 13 such holidays and events. I scored 85%, since I had to guess on two of them, and got them backward. Link

Popular Mechanics bought eight science kits for kids, reviewed them, and found instructions on the 'net for replicating the same experiments with materials many people have on hand.

...homemade experiments can be just as complex and educational (while costing up to $100 less), so we found alternatives to each of the boxed kits that teach similar lessons just as well. Bottom line: Whether preassembled or drawn from kitchen cupboards, science kits can be educational and fun.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4323417.html -via Geek Like Me

Developed by MITERS, a group at MIT who build things, this souped-up shopping cart can achieve speeds of up to 45 mph! I don't know, it doesn't look all that safe to me. Link

(YouTube link)
This sewer-cam video from Raleigh, North Carolina has been inspiring nausea all over the web. Deep Sea News contacted experts to find out what kind of creature this could be.

They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other.

Read more about annelid worms and see more videos, if you have the stomach for it. http://deepseanews.com/2009/06/creatures-from-the-sewer/ -via a comment at Digg