Stack your books on the wall supported by... nothing! They appear to be floating. Complete instructions for making your own can be found at WikiHow. http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Invisible-Shelves -via the Presurfer

(image credit: VideoJug)

It’s hard to buy something different for Mom when she 1) already has a lot of things, 2) doesn’t ask for anything, and 3) you’ve bought her all the traditionally sentimental gifts you can think of over the years. Trueroots has some suggestions for geeky gestures that will surprise Mom on Mothers Day. And they don’t cost much, either. http://www.trueroots.us/blog/2008/05/08/top-5-relatively-quick-and-geeky-last-minute-mothers-day-gifts/ -via Digg

Arthur Shapiro is an associate professor at Bucknell University, Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience. Now that academic obligations are winding down for the school year, he’s started a blog about optical illusions called Illusion Sciences. He posts illusions, then explains why they fool the eye (or the mind). There are also links to further research. This particular illusion is called Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Go to the site to see the flash version “move”. Link -via J-Walk Blog

The NmG (No More Gas) car from Myers Motors is an electric car that can go 75 miles an hour! Plug it into a 110 or 220 volt outlet and charge it up for a few hours. The three-wheeled vehicle holds one person and has a range of only 30 miles on a charge, so it’s designed for commuting to work. The tiny size makes it easy to park, too. The NmG will be registered and insured as a motorcycle, although it is fully enclosed. Priced at $36,000. Link -via the Presurfer

Not all comic book chracters are loveable or honorable, or even fathomable. The comics wouldn’t be interesting is they were! But some are so over the top, they’ve made Cracked’s list of the six creepiest. Pictured is a character called Inner Child from Doom Patrol. It’s not even number one! Link

Have you ever considered planning your vacation around the places that made nuclear history?

The Traveler's Guide to Nuclear Weapons illustrates 160 important homes, offices, laboratories, factories, mills, and bomb detonation sites in the United States. Scaled maps, photos, tour schedules, and site telephone numbers provide atomic tourists with all they need to visit these historic locations, vicariously or in person.

Link -via Everlasting Blort

(image: National Archives)

The Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss tests your knowledge of movie sequels. There are 12 sequels, but only six of them are real. Can you decide which one are the fakes? I only scored 50% on this one, well below the average. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/14741

ProTraveller looks at 17 theaters and auditoriums that survive from ancient times.

It's hard to believe that some of these theatres are close to 3,000 years old, and it's amazing that they're even still standing. The amount of engineering knowledge that our ancient ancestors had developed is just as mesmerising especially when some of these auditoria rival present-day outdoor theatres in terms of acoustic properties.

On the one hand, it’s difficult to imagine drawing such large crowds in times when there weren’t as many people as now. On the other hand, there were few other forms of entertainment, so most likely everyone went to every performance. Pictured is the Aspendos Theatre in Turkey. Link -Thanks, Andy!

This sign confuses me. Does it confuse you? Submitted to ilovebacon.com. http://www.ilovebacon.com/050808/h.shtml -via Geek Like Me

Esquire’s list of things every man should master contains some good advice, and some surprises.

11. Swim three different strokes. Doggie paddle doesn't count.

14. Chop down a tree. Know your escape path. When the tree starts to fall, use it.

27. Play gin with an old guy. Old men will try to crush you. They'll drown you in meaningless chatter, tell stories about when they were kids this or in Korea that. Or they'll retreat into a taciturn posture designed to get you to do the talking. They'll note your strategies without mentioning them, keep the stakes at a level they can control, and change up their pace of play just to get you stumbling. You have to do this -- play their game, be it dominoes or cribbage or chess. They may have been playing for decades. You take a beating as a means of absorbing the lessons they've learned without taking a lesson. But don't be afraid to take them down. They can handle it.

29. Understand quantum physics well enough that he can accept that a quarter might, at some point, pass straight through the table when dropped.

Sometimes the laws of physics aren't laws at all. Read The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone, by Kenneth W. Ford.

30. Feign interest. Good place to start: quantum physics.

Link -via Gorilla Mask

(illustration: Leif Parsons)

French fries? No, this is candy! The fries are made of marshmallow, and the “ketchup” is strawberry sauce. I don’t think I could handle the cognitive dissonance of trying them out. Link -via Unique Daily

(YouTube link)
This beats laying on the bed to get them zipped up anytime! -via Arbroath

He may look like a panther, but he’s all jaguar. A rare black jaguar cub was born a couple of months ago at the Huachipa zoo in Lima. The unnamed youngster is the third of this endangered species to be born in capitivity in Peru. You can see his faint jaguar markings in another picture at Green Expander. Link -via Fark

Correction: Jess left a comment and told me something I did not know:

Black jaguars are panthers. Any jaguar, leopard, or cougar who is born black can be called a black panther.

I had always thought a panther was a black leopard only, but Wikipedia says Jess is right!

Legoland Windsor in Berkshire, England has the world’s largest Lego tower ever! The tower, shaped like a Viking longboat, was completed just a couple of days ago with the help of park visitors. Children built 20 cm sections, which were hoisted in place by crane.

The park's special events manager, Penny Jenkins, said: "We are thrilled to bring the World Record to Legoland Windsor after four days of hard work, not to mention nearly 500,000 bricks, and it now stands at nearly 100ft.

"It has been a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lego bricks." The record attempt is awaiting official verification by Guinness World Records.

The official record is held by a 96-foot tower built in Toronto last year. Link -via Gizmodo

See how Americans report spending their economic stimulus checks, and submit your own report at the blog How I Spent My Stimulus. Doug in Ohio sent this picture in, saying:

"I bought 25 yards of mulch which included a back ache. Fun, Fun, Fun!"

http://www.howispentmystimulus.com/ -via Cynical-C