Get out your thinking cap and get ready to win free stuff because this week Neatorama and mental_floss are teaming up to challenge you to SHOW OFF YOUR SMARTS!

We throw out a topic and all you have to do is come up with the smartest, funniest, most interesting fact related to it.  Simply enter your fact in the comments below and if yours is chosen, you'll win a brand new prize from the mental_floss store (along with endless bragging rights!). One fact per comment, but you can enter as many facts as you'd like.

Today's topic: In honor of the Christmas trees going up all over, give us an odd fact about plants. The odder, more obscure, or baffling, the better!

Here are two examples to get your mojo working:

The largest single flower is the Rafflesia or "corpse flower". They are generally 3 feet in diameter with the record being 42 inches.

For more than 30 years, Nova Scotia has donated a giant Christmas tree each year to the people of Boston as a thank you for their assistance following the 1917 Halifax Explosion.

Surely, you can do better than those.

Today's prize: The cool When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade! T-shirt.

And even if you don't have a winning fact, mental_floss is giving Neatorama readers a special discount in the mental_floss store. This week only, visit mentalfloss.com/store and get 15% off anything in the store by entering "neatorama" into the coupon code.

Good luck, guys!

Notice: Because the mental_floss staff has been jet-setting (and therefore jet-lagging), we will announce both yesterday's winner and today's winner on Monday.

Dark Roasted Blend has a collection of “oops” moments at airports. Some are funny, some are scary, and all are presumed to have been quite expensive. Link

A British scientist has developed chewing gum that dissolves in water! That could save millions in money municipalities spend to remove improperly-discarded gum. The gum, nicknamed Rev7, is produced by the startup company Revolymer. Environmental studies confirm it is easier to remove from streets than conventional gum, and even degrades narurally in weather. It also passed taste and “mouth-feel” tests.

Prof Cosgrove, who is Chief Scientific Officer of Revolymer, said: "The advantage of our Clean Gum is that it has a great taste, it is easy to remove and has the potential to be environmentally degradable."

"I am delighted with our progress" added Roger Pettman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In 18 months we have converted UK technology into a commercial product, significantly changing the pollution issues facing chewing gum."

Pettman's daughter has done tests of gum on her hair, such is his dedication to his product. The additive has yet to be approved but it is expected before the end of the year and "we are planning our product launch for 2008," said Pettman.

The article does not address how long it takes for the gum to dissolve in your mouth. Link -via Gizmodo

Now you know. -via Phil’s Phun

This looks like a wonderful idea. You can see how brown your toast is getting, so you won’t be surprised by burnt toast. Too bad it’s only a concept, since glass can’t get hot enough to toast bread ...yet. http://www.inventables.com/Product/ConceptStudio.asp?i=11&t=3 -via Engadget

Wash your hands with hand soap. Soap shaped like little hands! Each hand is hand made. Isn't that handy? http://foliage.myshopify.com/products/handsoap -via BB Spot

The fun things you can do with video these days... Push play or go to YouTube. -via Old Horsetail Snake

If you thought Google Maps was everywhere already, you ain’t seen nothin' yet!

In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, we’ve added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to our celestial neighbor. Happy lunar surfing.

Link -via Bits and Pieces

This scooter lets you "mush", no matter how good the weather is. Putting the dog at the side, behind the steering wheel, lets him see how you are steering. http://dogpoweredscooter.com/Home_Page.html -via the Presurfer

Droid Soup-Part One is a new Star Wars movie remix done in the silent film style. Push play or go to YouTube. -via b3ta

You’ll find a collection of ten silent Star Wars videos today at YesButNoButYes.

Today is Friday the 13th! This is considered to be the unluckiest day on the calendar. You’ll find more on Friday the 13th here.

But NASA says that 22 years from now, on Friday, April 13th 2029, we will all feel lucky as we watch asteroid 2004 MN4 ... not hitting Earth.

On April 13, 2029, asteroid 2004 MN4 will fly past Earth only 18,600 miles (30,000 km) above the ground. For comparison, geosynchronous satellites orbit at 22,300 miles (36,000 km). "At closest approach, the asteroid will shine like a 3rd magnitude star, visible to the unaided eye from Africa, Europe and Asia--even through city lights," says Jon Giorgini of JPL. This is rare. "Close approaches by objects as large as 2004 MN4 are currently thought to occur at 1000-year intervals, on average."

Link

Los Angeles cat breeder Judy Sugden has been working since the late eighties to breed a housecat that resembles a tiger. The result is the “Toyger”, a registered breed she is still working on.

The breed standard for the Toyger, as registered with TICA, is a big-boned, pumpkin-colored animal with a whitened belly. Ideally, its stripes mimic those of its powerful role model, flowing up from the stomach and down from the spine, and forming concentric arcs around the face.

So far, there are 400 registered Toygers, but none that exemplify all the registered attributes. She hopes to have a perfect specimen by 2010. Link

Advances in prosthetic science have allowed a man in Scotland to be fitted with a bionic hand with individually-powered fingers. Donald MacKillop, who lost his right hand nearly 30 years ago, is pleased with the new hand, saying "The fact that the fingers can wrap round things, makes life much, much easier." The BBC news story has a video of the hand in action. Link -via Arbroath