Serious Eats has a suggested menu for Sunday night's Oscar ceremonies that relies on the names of nominated movies and stars. Here's a sample:

Frosted Flakes/Nixon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Mutton
Flan Torino
Hot Dog Millionaire
Revolutionary Rolls
Milk

The movie star puns include Marisa Tomei-to Soup, Mickey Pork, and Frank Lan-jello. There are quite a few more! Link -via Buzzfeed

Socks, the White House Cat from 1993 to 2001, has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Socks became Chelsea Clinton's cat in 1991 and moved from Little Rock, Arkansas to Washington with the family in 1993. He remained at the White House after Chelsea went to college, where he lived antagonistically with president Clinton's dog Buddy. When Clinton left office, Socks went to live with presidential secretary Betty Currie in Maryland. Socks, who succumbed to cancer, was approximately 18. Link -via Digg

An extremely rare bird was photographed by a TV crew in the Philippines in January, just before it was sold at a poultry market.

Found only on the island of Luzon, Worcester's buttonquail was known solely through drawings based on dated museum specimens collected several decades ago.

Scientists had suspected the species—listed as "data deficient" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2008 Red List—was extinct.

The buttonquail is a reclusive bird, and no one knows how many may remain hidden. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Arnel B. Telesforo)

Jamey Pittman has published The Pac-Man Dossier, in which you can find out the answers to all those nagging questions you have about the game. Learn how each ghost differs from the others, what logic leads them through the maze, and how to navigate more efficiently. You'll even find the secret behind the mysterious level 256! Link -via the Presurfer

Guard Dog
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Guard Dog is about a bulldog who takes his duties very seriously. This animated short by Bill Plympton was nominated for an Oscar in 2004. -Thanks, Katherine!

A six-pound rat was caught in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. The ratcatcher is Mr. Xian, who grabbed the rat after he saw a crowd gathered around it.

He told local Chinese newspapers that he thought the rat might be a valuable specimen, or a rare species, and had to muster up his courage before grabbing its tail and picking it up by the scruff of its neck.

"I did it, I caught a rat the size of a cat!" he shouted out afterwards, according to the reports. Mr Xian is believed to still be in possession of the animal, after stuffing into a bag and departing the scene.

The rat had a 12-inch tail and teeth and inch long! Forestry officials who saw pictures think it's a Chinese bamboo rat, which rarely grow over ten inches long, but cannot be sure until they examine the rat itself. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: News 163)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland will formally induct new members April 3-4. In honor of the occasion, today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss challenges you to match up some hit songs of the past with the famous background vocalists that sang on them. I scored miserably, but it brought back some fine memories. After you try the quiz, enter the mental_floss sweepstakes to win a trip for two to see the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in person! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/22776

Update: The quiz wasn't working earlier, but it's been fixed now.

The CERN Large Hadron Collider had to be taken out of commission last September for retooling after helium leaked out and caused £20 million in damage. Who gets to turn on the button to start it up when repairs are finished? Movie star Tom Hanks!

Hanks was approached about the move while filming his latest film Angels and Demons in which he plays a Harvard University academic investigating a plot to annihilate the Vatican with 0.25 grams of antimatter stolen from Cern.

Steve Myers, Cern's director of accelerators and technology, told Nature News that he gave the actor a tour of the laboratory on February 13 and asked him if he would return for the switch-on, to which the actor agreed.

Cern's head of communications, James Gillies, confirmed that the facility would be delighted to have Hanks there to restart the collider, which organisers hope will take place in June.

Link -via Gizmodo

Previously: Trouble at the LHC

Surgeons have found a new way to send updates to other doctors, medical students, and the public during surgery -by using the social networking site Twitter! Last week, doctors at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit "Tweeted" an operation to remove a tumor from a kidney.

Dr. Craig Rogers, the lead surgeon in the Henry Ford surgery, said the impetus for his Twittering was to let people know that a tumor can be removed without taking the entire kidney.

"We're trying to use this as a way to get the word out," Rogers said.

Observers say Twittering about a procedure is a natural outgrowth of the social networking media revolution.

"Doing this removes a real communication barrier. It helps make something scary much more comprehendable," said Christopher Parks, co-founder of the Web site changehealthcare.com. "It brings us closer together and makes us more engaged."

Link -via Geek Like Me

The urban exploration site mechanized has a lovely photo post about a secret forest sanctuary.

A few years ago, in dense woodland a few miles from my home, I discovered a caravan. Encircled by trees and undergrowth, and over a mile from the nearest road, its presence was utterly incongruous, with few clues as to how or why it had come to rest at this point. For almost a year, I kept my distance, fearful it was inhabited by a hermit and that I would be chased away if I ventured too close. Eventually, I investigated further and discovered that it was empty; its furnishings intact, but no sign of human inhabitants.

That's only the beginning of the story. After many visits, he discover there was another visitor to the caravan, and they begin leaving notes for each other. Link -via Metafilter

The ADR Group in Istanbul produced this eye-catching three-level bus they call Neon!

...Neon sports a brightly-colored retro interior, equipped with everything from a fully stocked ground-floor bar and TV room to two disco-style full-level cafes on the second and third floors.

See pictures of the interior as well at BallerRide. Link -via Unique Daily

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Heehee! Yes, you may kick me now. -via Buzzfeed

I somehow have a bad feeling about buying groceries at this store. http://epicfailwin.com/suspicious-supermarket-fail/ -via Buzzfeed

No doubt about it -these are horror stories. There's the 13-inch metal tool left in a patient's body, the women who underwent heart surgery scheduled for a different patient, and several cases of surgery on the wrong side of the body. Pictured is Jésica Santillán, who died after a heart transplant from a donor with an incompatible blood type.

The error sent the patient into a comalike state, and she died shortly after an attempt to switch the organs back out for compatible ones failed. The hospital blamed human error for the death, along with a lack of safeguards to ensure a compatible transplant.

Link

Baron Karl Christian Ludwig von Drais de Sauerbrun of Germany patented a two-wheeled foot-driven vehicle on February 17th, 1818. It had no pedals, gears, or brakes. His invention was inspired by the shortage of horses, but didn't catch on for public transportation during his lifetime.

The two-wheelers really needed paved or at least smooth surfaces, of which there weren't many. It was also way too easy to fall off the contraption, and people's leather shoes were nowhere near as durable as a horse's iron shoes. What's more, the Laufmaschine also faced competition from another new invention: the railroads.

So, the utilitarian-inspired mechanical horse instead became a fancy toy for aristocrats and the rising bourgeoisie. The French called it a draisine, the English a hobby horse. The devices were often graced with equine figureheads, or even carved dragons and elephants.

Later innovators built on Von Drais' "running machine" over time to make the bicycle what it is today. Read the whole story at Wired. Link

(image credit: Flickr user Mark Stosberg)