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American football, especially between rival colleges, can be an incomprehensible spectacle to anyone outside the US. Stephen Fry reports:

Simultaneously preposterous... impressive, charming, ridiculous, expensive, overpopulated, wonderful, American.

Even funnier are the YouTube comments speculating as to what camera tricks were used in this video to make the game look so big. Link (embedded YouTube video)

LEDs are the way to use tons and tons of lights and still use very little electricity. Artists, sculptors, and architects use LEDs to create stunning light displays, like this one found at the Italian Light Sculpture Festival in Nanjing, China. See more pictures from the festival and other LED art projects at WebEcoist. Link -via Rue the Day

My Jello Americans is a blog dedicated to the art of the Jello shot. And I do mean art, as these shots can look like anything from an ear of corn to ice cream to fossil insects encased in amber! The flavor combinations are amazing as well, like shots that resemble bonbons flavored with absinthe and Black Sambuca. Link -via Breakfast Links

Take a look at this photograph from the early 20th century. It has not been retouched, nor is it a double exposure. It looks like a big face has been plopped into the middle of it, an example of pareidolia {wiki}, the tendency for human brains to interpret patterns as meaningful, like seeing a face when there is no face. For an explanation of what this photo really is, see the post at Historic LOLs. Link Update: Commenter MosselKots has images spelling out both ways of looking at this picture, in case that will help you see it. http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab74/mzzzl/Pareidoliaillusionfotohint.jpg

We've brought you some weird vending machines before, but this takes the cake! When you feel the need to buy gold, but don't want to drive all the way to the bank or to your broker, just use this handy dandy gold vending machine, from a business called GOLD To Go. The first one was installed earlier this year at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Of course. Link -via Laughing Squid

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.

A 12,000-year-old grave in Israel has touching evidence of the long, close relationship between humans and dogs. The grave contains a human skeleton whose hand rests upon the bones of a small puppy. Through the centuries dogs have given people loyalty, aid, and companionship. So what did people do to get such understanding and helpful friends? Well, actually, they created them themselves.

NEVER CRY WOLF

(Image credit: Flicker user ucumari)

Scientists have discovered 400,000-year-old wolf bones mingled with human bones. But they believe that the man and the wolf relationship goes back hundred of thousands of years before that. Early humans probably first used wolves as food; but the wolves would have also been using humans, scavenging through their garbage dumps and over time moving closer and  closer to the center of camp and the human's food source-the campfire. After a while, the gentler wolves were accepted by humans as part of the group.

Wolf packs and early human tribes had a lot in common. They were both willing to follow a leader, cooperate, and work together to protect members of their group. So, a wolf-human cooperation was natural-especially when it came to hunting.

Wolves began to follow humans when they went hunting. Wolves gave off cues when prey was around and humans soon figured out that wolves possessed a superior sense of smell and could detect prey at long distances. Man and wolf began to cooperate and eventually wolves became active participants and true partners with humans in the hunt for food.

AN EVOLVING PUPPY TALE

When selecting a wolf pal, humans naturally favored the most cooperative animals. They associated cooperative behavior with a puppylike appearance in an adult wolf and encouraged those animals to stick around. They also began picking out the most gentle, trainable puppies to raise.

(Image credit: Flickr user Paul Moody)

In effect humans replaced nature's selection process with a man-made one. And after thousand of years of human meddling-about 14,000 years ago-a new animal evolved. Thanks to domestication and their diet, these animals had smaller brains, heads, and teeth than wolves. We call them dogs. As wolves evolved into dogs, they became even more important to humans because of their usefulness and their companionship.

Dogs have always had a wide variety of size and body proportions, but about 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, folks tinkered with Mother Nature in earnest to create specialized working and companion dogs. That's when the difference in breeds really began to emerge.

The Romans bred and trained working dogs and lap dogs. As breeding continued, dogs became more and more specialized. Herding dogs were bred to work with livestock. Sporting dogs were bred for bird hunting. Hounds were bred to hunt by scent or by sight.  Working dogs were bred to perform many tasks, including herding, hauling, and guarding. Terriers were bred to hunt rodents and other vermin. Toy breeds were bred to be companions and some of those were bred to be simply lap warmers.

DOGS OF WAR

(Image credit; Flickr user United States Marine Corps)

Alexander the Great was said to have helped develop a huge breed called Molossus, as a battle dog that could knock a man right off a horse. In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors used kill-trained greyhounds and large Mastiff-type dogs against Native Americans and to assist in their conquest of the New World.

During the Civil War, dogs were used for sentry duty, to guard prisoners, and to accompany troops as mascots. In World War I, dogs were used to detect enemy forces, carry messages, search battlefields for wounded soldiers, and evacuate wounded soldiers by pulling small ambulance carts. Dogs also cheered up soldiers at the front lines and those wounded in hospitals.

During World War II, the United States really got serious about using dogs to protect its military and military-related property. Scout dogs were used to good advantage in Vietnam; they served double duty as security dogs. Mine-detector dogs and tunnel dogs were both trained during this conflict. Vietnam also saw the development of the tracker dog. Tracker dogs were used to hunt down the enemy.

The modern canine soldier is trained to save lives, not take them. American war dogs help our troops avoid potentially deadly encounters. They work as sentries on sensitive military installations, or lead their handlers to hidden caches of weapons, explosives, and drugs.

COP DOGS

(Image credit: Flickr user Thomas Hawk)

The organized use of dogs in law enforcement for the apprehension of criminals was established in the early 1900s. Working German shepherds became so good at helping law enforcement personnel that they were nicknamed "police dogs". The idea of using dogs for police work was largely brought about by the development of and organization of purebred dog clubs. The earliest examples of police dog programs were those in Germany, Belgium, and England.

EXCEEDINGLY WELL BRED

Dogs have been successful as a species because they have adapted well to the needs and desires of humans for loyalty, companionship, and assistance. Dogs and people communicate effectively through voice, body language, and facial expressions, though in many ways dogs are much better at understanding humans than humans are at understanding dogs.

Dogs and humans have a relationship that is based on mutual support. Dogs have a greater difficulty surviving on their own and a dog's dependence on humans make it a sensitive pal, cooperative and responsive to its owner's moods. Dogs are wonderful companions, they help people make a living, and they save lives. Man's best friend is even a healer, reducing stress and lowering blood pressure.

Dogs may be mankind's greatest accomplishment-the creation of a superior being. After all, a dog will never turn o you as long as you treat it right. The same can't be said about people.

*****

"Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Give me a pig. He just looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal." -Winston Churchill

______________________________

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.

The book is a compendium of entertaining information chock-full of facts on a plethora of history topics. Uncle John's first plunge into history was a smash hit - over half a million copies sold! And this sequel gives you more colorful characters, cultural milestones, historical hindsight, groundbreaking events, and scintillating sagas.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute

How many of these pasta shapes can you name? How many can you use in a recipe? This is a small sampling of the pastas listed at The Geometry of Pasta. Click on a shape and find out what to call it and how to use it in Italian meals. There are recipes as well. Link -via the Presurfer

Jason Lee is a wedding photographer, but his really creative side comes out when he shoots his adorable daughters. You'll find more pictures and an interview with Lee at My Modern Met. Link -via reddit

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TV writer and producer Stephen J. Cannell has died as a result of melanoma. He was 69. Cannell created (or co-created) dozens of TV series in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, including The Rockford Files, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, The Commish, Hardcastle And McCormick, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Baretta. He also wrote novels and screenplays. Shown here is a montage of all but two of the evolving logos Stephen J. Cannell Productions tagged the end of the shows with. Link -via Metafilter

I've been alluding to new things coming from Neatorama, and this week a couple of those things made their debut.

We launched a new weekly distraction for you called Neato-Puzzles! Every Tuesday you'll get a new puzzle in collaboration with Conceptis Puzzles. The first one is a fairly easy sudoku puzzle. There are puzzles of all kinds with different levels of difficulty coming in the weeks ahead.

We also presented a new giveaway contest called Name That Weird Invention. Come up with a name for Steven Johnson's strange concept of the week and win prizes! In the first contest, congratulations go out to to Evan who won Steven Johnsons's book What The World Needs Now. Congratulations also to runners-up Trevor and heaterc who won T-shirts from the NeatoShop! Their winning suggestions are at the contest post. Look for a new invention on Monday.

Stacy took a look back at the first Gordon Gekko movie in Movie Trivia: Wall Street to prepare you for the sequel in theaters now.

David Israel visited The New Los Angeles Holocaust Museum and got an exclusive interview and tour as the museum prepares to open later this month.

Jill Harness wrote about both the brain and the body this week with Hacks to Help You Stay Healthy and Tricks Our Minds Play On Us. She also brought us The Real Life Inspirations For 14 Simpsons Characters.

Thursday was the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the first prime-time animated TV series, so I looked up 10 Neat Facts About The Flintstones.

Steven Johnson had some futuristic (and yet peculiarly retro at the same time) ideas for Automated Dining to add to the Museum of Possibilities.

Over at the Spotlight Blog, you can get an up close and personal look at Mark Racop's awesome Authentic 1966 Batmobile® Replicas.

You probably didn't know about The Limburger Cheese War before you read this week's article from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The folks at the Annals of Improbable Research brought us an Ig Nobel Libretto: “Chicken versus Egg”, and also awarded the 2010 Ig Nobel Prizes this week.

Mental_floss magazine gave us The 411 on 911: A Brief and Incomplete Timeline.

Even though we have new puzzles and contests, our old giveaways are still here! Congratulations to kantoboy, who won Mal and Chad's Fill in the Bubble Frenzy with the caption "Dear Mal, You have won the Island Getaway Sweepstakes. Congratulations!" Kantoboy gets a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!

And we had the What Is It? game as well. I'll add the winners' names here as soon as I get them.

In case that's not enough to keep you busy this weekend, check out what's going on at NeatoBambino and see what's new at the NeatoHub!

Steven M. Johnson comes up with all sorts of wacky inventions in his weekly Museum of Possibilities posts, but something's missing from his strange gadgets: names. Can you come up with a name for this one? The commenter suggesting the funniest and wittiest name (along with proposed use of such strange object - the weirder the better) will win a free copy of Steve's autographed first edition book What The World Needs Now. Two runner-ups win free T-shirts from the NeatoShop.

Contest rules: one entry per comment, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Please make a selection of the T-shirt you want (may we suggest the Science T-shirt, Funny T-shirt, and Artist-designed T-shirt categories?) alongside your entry. If you don't select a shirt, then you forfeit the prize. Good luck!

Update 10/9: Congratulations to first place winner redfi5e who suggested we call this invention "Flures." Second place winners are Carolyn Bahm ("Dive-Thrus") and ernest ("Flap-jerks"). Carolyn was the only one who followed stated a t-shirt preference as per the contest rules, so she gets a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!

The artist, Steven Johnson, said, "I was blown away by the cleverness of many of the names. I also noticed that a well-conceived name made my art seem funnier!" So he wanted to recognize these entries as Honorable Mentions: The Flopcatch, Masterbaiters, Toe Tacklers, Self Contained Underwater Baiting Apparatus (SCUBA), Flipplures, Trollfins, FlipperDippers, SCUBait, Flip-o-bait, Flip Service, Kickbait, Flipping Hookers, Toe-Bait-O’s, and Stuck in pro-bait.

Move over, Lady Gaga, this guy had a meat suit back in 1894! In fact, he'd fit right in with the internet generation because he's dressed as a side of bacon. Mmm... bacon. Link -via Buzzfeed

This Tumblr blog collects only the worst of the worst -but there seems to be no shortage of bad postcards! Some lend themselves well to caption contests. Link -via J-Walk Blog

I hope that you don't rely on your GPS to the exclusion of your common sense. This guy followed his navigator's instructions to "a glorified goat track." and had to be rescued by a helicopter crew!

Driver Robert Ziegler, 37, found himself stranded near the peak at Bergun, Switzerland, unable to go forward or turn around to go back the way he came.

Rescue workers scrambled a heavy lifting helicopter to carry the van and its driver to safety after he dialed for help on his mobile phone.

"I was lost and I kept hoping that each little turn would get me back to the main road. In the end it told me to turn around but of course I couldn't by then," the driver told police.

Link -via the Presurfer

The first Monday in October (October 4th this year) is designated by the UN as World Habitat Day, a day to raise awareness of housing needs globally and in our communities. Habitat for Humanity is participating, as they do every year, with a variety of events.

Habitat for Humanity’s 27th annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project is a World Habitat Day  event  this year.  It will be held Oct. 4 – 8 in six cities in the United States.  Held in a different location each year, Habitat’s Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project is an annual, internationally-recognized week of building that brings attention to the need for simple, decent and affordable housing.  This year, the Carters will work alongside volunteers in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore and Annapolis, Md.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; and Birmingham, Ala. to build, rehabilitate and improve 86 homes.

Habitat for Humanity has a schedule of events, and suggestions for ways you can become involved with providing housing to those who need it in your community and around the world. Link -Thanks, Liza!