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

(YouTube link)
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)

Designer Bruno Frisoni presents a pair of shoes that will set you back $43,000!

The Dovima, as the shoe is known, is beautiful (and slightly creepy) thanks to the rose pink-dyed taxidermy birds perched delicately on each toe. Each stuffed bird also has a crystal-encrusted head and is further complemented by 24 ct gold-coated mesh, silk, ribbons, and crocodile-skin rosettes. Plus every pair comes with special protective crocodile or snakeskin platforms that attach before you wear them to keep the shoes from ever touching the ground.

Link -via J-Walk Blog

Gone With The Wind won eight Academy Awards in ...I'm not supposed to tell the year. This week, the Lunchtime Quizzes at mental_floss deal with our favorite movies. How well do you know Gone With The Wind? I only missed one question on this one, and that was because I hit the button too fast! Link

Jane and Keith Crane of Akron, Ohio created an eight-foot square Scrabble board for their yard!

He fashioned the board from pavers laid in a bed of sand — 225 of them, to be exact. He installed them all in one day and had the back pain to prove it.

Jane Crane painted the bonus square in the proper colors and made letter tiles from craft-store wood plaques. She took apart shelves and reconfigured the pieces to make tile racks, and pavers and tiles were sealed to prevent water damage.

Now Scrabble games at the Crane house are a physical as well as mental pursuit. The players have to get out of their seats to place their tiles on the board and pick new ones from the selection spread out face down in the grass.

http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/home_garden/30819604.html -via mental_floss

(image credit: Ken Love/Akron Beacon Journal)

Remember the Cat Cam? A cat in Seattle wore a camera one day a week for a year, and now those photographs have their own exhibit in an art gallery! Cooper the tomcat has 16 framed photos displayed at the Urban Light Studios in the Greenwood Collective through March 10th.

"We never thought we'd have an artist that is an American Shorthair cat," said Kevin Law, owner of the gallery and a professional photographer. "But after reading the PhinneyWood blog and seeing his photos, I was immediately blown away. He has classical compositions right out of a photo textbook. There may be no intent behind them, but they're beautiful artwork."

Link to story. Link to Cooper's blog. -via Fark

(image credit: Andy Rogers)

Previously: Fritz the Feline Photographer

Scientists have found an alternative use for cotton candy. It can be used to grow replacement human tissue!

First, you pour a thick liquid chemical over a wad of cotton candy. Let the liquid solidify into a chunk, and put that in warm water to dissolve the candy. That leaves tiny channels where the strands of candy used to be. So you have a chunk of material with a network of fine channels within.

Next, line these channels with cells to create artificial blood vessels. And seed the solid chunk with immature cells of whatever tissue you're trying to make. The block is biodegradable, and as it disappears, it will gradually be replaced by growing tissue. In the end, you get a piece of tissue permeated with tiny blood vessels.

The research was done by Dr. Jason Spector of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Leon Bellan of Cornell University. Spector enjoys cotton candy, but Bellan finds it disgusting. Link -via Geek Like Me

(image credit: Flickr user Indrani Soemardjan)

Retired USAF Major General Chuck Yeager is 86 years old today. From Wikipedia:

Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 13,700 m (45,000 ft). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter exceeded Mach 2.4.[1] He later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to brigadier general. Yeager's flying career spans more than sixty years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, even into the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.

Learn more about Yeager at his official website. http://www.chuckyeager.com/yeageradventure/yeageradventure.htm -via the Presurfer