When Mary Martell left for St. Johns Airport, she didn’t know her cat had jumped into her suitcase. How did a live animal in a suitcase make it through airport security?

Martell said her bag was scanned at the airport, but she was not stopped.

"They had asked me, when they put … the luggage through the X-ray, whether I had a turkey," Martell said.

"[Security] kept going back and forth with [the suitcase]," Martell said. "I was adamant. 'Look, I have no turkey.'"

The cat was discovered after a two-hour flight to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, when Martell opened her suitcase in her hotel room. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is investigating the incident. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2007/05/02/nb-stowawaycat.html -via Metafilter

More photos are being released from the New Horizons space probe’s Jupiter flyby. This color photo reminded Ransom at Mental Floss of Van Gogh’s masterpiece Starry Night. Do you see the resemblance? Link

No less confusing than the original three hour film, but funnier, and it’s only 5:41. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Ursi’s Blog

New Scientist reports on a new surgical procedure.

Transgastric surgery, or natural orifice translumenal endosurgery (NOTES), as it is officially known, involves passing flexible surgical tools and a camera in through the patient's mouth to reach the abdominal cavity via an incision made in the stomach lining. Once the operation is over, the surgeon draws any removed tissue back out through the patient's mouth and stitches up the hole in the stomach.

The benefits are less scarring, less pain, and less chance of infection. The downside is that it may leave a bad taste in your mouth. Link -via Cynical-C

You’ve seen the story of Larry Walters, who achieved an altitude of 16,000 feet with a cluster of balloons. Did you know that Cluster Ballooning is now an extreme sport? John Ninomiya is the only regularly active cluster balloonist in North America, and there are about a half-dozen others worldwide.

Cluster balloons, like all balloons, are aircraft that require skill and training to operate safely. Before I began flying cluster balloons, I was an FAA-licensed hot-air balloon pilot and had over four-hundred hours of pilot time in conventional hot-air balloons and Cloudhoppers. These skills are not rocket science, but they are NOT something you're going to figure out on your first flight while you're drifting toward the high tension lines and imminent crispy-critterhood! Fly safely!

Link -via Ursi’s Blog

“It makes everything taste bitter.” Available from Despair.com in both regular and executive editions. Link -via Bits and Pieces

The New Horizons space probe passed within 1.4 million miles of Jupiter in February, taking the best pictures yet of the gas giant and its moons. NASA released the first photos of the series today. Link

On May first, 1978, the first spam message was written (and sent two days later) via email to 400 Arpanet addresses. Wired celebrates the anniversary with a rundown on what’s happened since. Link

These hook boxes by designer Luca Nichetto look so useful but still stylish. Link -via Swiss Miss

The Washington Post’s Photo Voyage has a beautiful slideshow entitled Silk: The Queen of Textiles. Read about the history, uses, and the process of making silk. Photography by Cary Wolinsky. http://wpni01.auroraquanta.com/pv/cwsilk -via Ursi’s Blog

Legends of America has a list of Old West Gunfights -not the ones in the movies, but the ones in the history of the American west. The real gunfights were quite different from the movie versions.

Instead, these fights were usually close-up and personal, with a number of shots blasted from pistols, often resulting in innocent bystanders hit by a bullet gone wild. Much of the time, it would be difficult to tell who had even “won” the gunfight for several minutes, as the black powder smoke from the pistols cleared the air.

Sixteen gunfights are detailed at the site. Link -via Grow-A-Brain

A “sinking ship” seen from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City yesterday was not a disaster. The Dockwise Swan is designed to do that! The ship is “semi-submersible,” and lowers its deck into the water to load and unload floating cargo, such as other boats. Quite a few calls to the authorities came from witnesses who were alarmed at the sight. Push play or go to Live Leak. -via Arbroath

Essential Architecture has a list of 100 places to see before you die. Most destinations have links to more pictures amd information. The picture shows Hagia Sophia (The Church of Holy Wisdom) in Turkey. Link -via the Presurfer

Art Star has a limited edition run of Bitz Pixelated Palz, eight different plush 8-bit pixel dolls. http://www.artstarphilly.com/shop/dolls.html -via Everlasting Blort

This outdoor lamp from Demakersvan stores wind energy that can be used to power the light when needed. Another “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” moment. Link -via Swiss Miss