Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
You want to talk about a niche blog? Here's one for tattoos of owls. And nothing else. Owl Tattoos has an extensive collection. Pictured is a tattoo by Valerie Vargas. Whoooo knew there were so many owl tattoos? Link -Thanks, Patrick!
Students at Parkside and Coleridge schools in Cambridgeshire, England sent two teddy bears into space! 21-year-old Henry Hallam led the project to send a helium balloon up to monitor weather conditions in the stratosphere, and enlisted the help of the Space Flight science club, a club for schoolchildren sponsored by Cambridge University.
Link -Thank, Charles Hog!
(image credit: Cambridge University)
The soft toys MAT and KMS were named after the first initials of the pupils who helped make their space suits.
Along with their two intrepid colleagues, they were strapped to a beam attached to a foam-padded box containing instrumentation and cameras on Monday.
After rising to an altitude of around 100,000ft, a webcam caught their 'space-walk' for posterity before the helium balloon burst.
They then fell to Earth before a parachute opened automatically to provide a soft landing.
Link -Thank, Charles Hog!
(image credit: Cambridge University)
Discover Magazine has a gallery of ten awesome photos of the visual effects created by sky conditions, explained in the accompanying text. Pictured is a sunset over Chile, which appears flattened due to light refraction. Link -Thanks, Sara!
(image credit: Luc Arnold)
The view is breathtaking, but... do you feel safe? deputy dog has a roundup of scenic overlooks that are as safe as can be made, but still make you feel like you may fall at any moment. Pictured is The Top Of Tyrol overlooking a ridge of Mount Isidor in Austria. http://deputy-dog.com/2008/12/6-vertigo-inducing-viewing-platforms.html
These orange slices are made of jello! Instructables tells you how to make them. This might be neat with lemons and limes, too. It would certainly impress guests at a holiday party! Link -via Unique Daily
The Museum of Communism in Prague has some delightfully funny advertisements. Don't miss the posters featuring Stalin, Lenin, and Marx! Link -Thanks, bubu!
PetFinder has posted their annual lists of the 10 most popular names for dogs and for cats. In addition, they have lists of the 10 most unusual pet names, and the 10 most unusual names for groups of pets. The most unusual individual names are:
A shelter had a dog named Buck up for adoption and didn't get any response. They changed his name to Joe the Plumber, and he had a new home in no time! Link -Thanks, Katy!
1. Woe Izmee
2. Gwyneth Poultry (a duck)
3. SoSueMe
4. 54cent Swee'T
5. Iamaredneckwoman
6. Angry Chef Soup
7. Ms. Cornflake Especially
8. Bon Jo Flea
9. McLovin
10. Joe the Plumber
A shelter had a dog named Buck up for adoption and didn't get any response. They changed his name to Joe the Plumber, and he had a new home in no time! Link -Thanks, Katy!
The popular video game comes to real life in this video by Remi Gaillard. -Thanks, Matt!
A 2,700-year-old grave unearthed in the Gobi Desert near Turpan, China revealed the world's oldest marijuana stash! The grave belonged to a blue-eyed Caucasian man buried with a number of valuable items.
Nearly two pounds of pot were found in the grave. No, it's not fresh enough to get anyone high. Link -Thanks, Jorge Garcia!
(image credit: David Potter/Oxford University Press)
Scientists originally thought the plant material in the grave was coriander, but microscopic botanical analysis of the bowl contents, along with genetic testing, revealed that it was cannabis.
The size of seeds mixed in with the leaves, along with their color and other characteristics, indicate the marijuana came from a cultivated strain. Before the burial, someone had carefully picked out all of the male plant parts, which are less psychoactive, so Russo and his team believe there is little doubt as to why the cannabis was grown.
Nearly two pounds of pot were found in the grave. No, it's not fresh enough to get anyone high. Link -Thanks, Jorge Garcia!
(image credit: David Potter/Oxford University Press)
Casey Pugh wired LED lights to a motorcycle helmet and programed them to flash patterns, a la Daft Punk! This was his Halloween costume. See a time-lapse video and a discussion of how he did it at Vimeo. Link -Thanks, Gene!
You may recall the famous photograph known as "Migrant Mother", taken by Dorothea Lange of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in 1936. It was used over the years to illustrate the Great Depression. Thompson was a migrant worker with seven children who also worked the fields. 77-year-old Katherine McIntosh was the girl burying her head in her mother's shoulders in the photo. She was four years old at the time.
McIntosh talked to CNN about what her life was like in those days. She now lives in Modesto, California. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
(image credit: Gregg Canes/CNN)
"The picture came out in the paper to show the people what hard times was. People was starving in that camp. There was no food," she says. "We were ashamed of it. We didn't want no one to know who we were."
The photograph helped define the Great Depression, yet McIntosh says her mom didn't let it define her, although the picture "was always talked about in our family."
"It always stayed with her. She always wanted a better life, you know."
McIntosh talked to CNN about what her life was like in those days. She now lives in Modesto, California. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
(image credit: Gregg Canes/CNN)
Atom has a rundown of five really strange animals, some you have seen here at Neatorama. Shown is Chrysopelea, the flying snake. Not something you want to invite into your dreams! Link -Thanks, Katharine!
Fourth grader Alec Greven wrote a pamphlet called "How to Talk to Girls" which became a best seller at his school book fair in Castle Rock, Colorado. The 46-page book has now been picked up by publisher Harper Collins. Some tidbits:
Link to story. http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Girls-Alec-Greven/dp/0061709999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228331114&sr=1-1 to Amazon order page. -via Unique Daily
(image credit: Liz Sullivan)
"It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewelry," he writes in Chapter Three.
"Pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil."
He advises, "The best choice for most boys is a regular girl. Remember, some pretty girls are coldhearted when it comes to boys. Don't let them get to you."
He believes the best way to approach a girl is to keep it to a simple "hi."
"If I say hi and you say hi back, we're probably off to a good start," he said.
As for his own love life, he said he is not dating anyone at the moment. "I'm a little too young," he confessed.
Link to story. http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Girls-Alec-Greven/dp/0061709999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228331114&sr=1-1 to Amazon order page. -via Unique Daily
(image credit: Liz Sullivan)
Out-of-body experiences and even the sense of switching bodies with another person can be induced by tricking the mind with sensory illusions!
70-80% of the test subjects experienced the illusion "very strongly". How weird that feeling must be! Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
(image credit: AP/Niklas Larsson)
In a study presented Tuesday, neuroscientists at Stockholm's renowned Karolinska Institute show how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person.
"We were interested in a classical question that philosophers and psychologists have discussed for centuries: why we feel that the self is in our bodies," project leader Henrik Ehrsson said. "To study this scientifically we've used tricks, perceptual illusions."
70-80% of the test subjects experienced the illusion "very strongly". How weird that feeling must be! Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!
(image credit: AP/Niklas Larsson)
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