Imagine signing aboard a ship and the first question they ask is, "Can you sing"? But singing was an important part of shipboard work in olden times.

Sea Shanties were work songs sung on ships during the age of sail. They were used to keep rhythm during work and make it more pleasant. Because these songs were used to accomplish a goal, rather then for pure entertainment, the lyrics and melody were not very sophisticated. Still, the songs were usually meaningful and told of a sailor’s life, which included backbreaking labor, abuse from captain and crew, alcohol, and longing for girls and dry land.

You can hear ten such shanties, plus bonus movie footage at The Art of Manliness. Link -Thanks, Michal!

What is this? Is algae growing from this turtle? Link -via Unique Daily

Update: This is a Mary River Turtle, an endangered species in Australia, with algae growing on its head. The photographs are by Chris Van Wyk. Link -via Boing Boing

Swiss pilot Yves Rossy of Switzerland (previously at Neatorama) flew 22 miles over the English Channel from Calais to Dover today, wearing a jet-propelled wing! The entire trip, which had been postponed twice, took only ten minutes on.

The 49-year-old flew on a plane to more than 8,200ft (2,500m), ignited jets on a wing on his back, and jumped out.

Mr Rossy had hoped to reach speeds of 125mph.

It felt "great, really great", said Mr Rossy: "I only have one word, thank you, to all the people who did it with me."

The stunt was broadcast live on the National Geographic Channel. Link -Thanks, Andy!

(image credit: AFP/Getty)

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Pat Clyne took this video of a crab riding atop a jellyfish! To be exact, the jellyfish is a Drymonema dalmatinum, or pink meanie. The species is native to more southern locations, and has only been recently reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Link -Thanks, Jackie!

Known Johnson experienced a visual migraine, which is when the blood vessels in the visual center of the brain are affected, causing weird vision sensations. He then created a flash animation to show others what the experience is like. Link -via Metafilter

2-year-old Mackenzie Argaet was born with biliary artresia. Her liver developed cirrhosis and she received a liver transplant. Dr Albert Shun, from The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia, performed the surgery.

But after inserting a portion of the adult-size liver in the little girl, Dr Shun discovered it was too big and was placing pressure on her blood vessels which could have been fatal.

Having heard about the use of ping-pong balls in operations overseas, he decided to test their suitability in transplant surgery.

"I rang my wife and asked her to go to Big W and buy me some ping-pong balls," he said.

The balls hold the liver away from the arteries until the swelling from surgery goes down. In Mackenzie's case, the balls were left inside, and the liver will grow around them.

Unaware she has a foreign object inside her body, little Mackenzie is now running around like every toddler her age.

Her parents Letice Darswell and Guy Argaet are thrilled their daughter is well after she was so seriously ill from birth.

Link -via Digg

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories is already starting to get into the Halloween spirit! They have a recipe for insalata caprese, an Italian dish, with instructions for eyeballs made of olives. Link

A LiveJournal site (in Russian) has a collection of pictures of intricately-detailed miniature war scenes, originally found on a Japanese site. If you can translate any information on this for me, I'd appreciate it! Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

Update 3-2-09: I found the artist! His name is Mark Hogancamp, and you'll find links to his works here. (Thanks, valr!)

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A simulation of worldwide air traffic over 24 hours, from the AirTraffic team at ZHAW School of Engineering. Link -Thanks, cgredan!

Next year, the design on the US penny will change for the first time in 50 years. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, the US Mint will replace the Lincoln Memorial on the back to four different scenes from Lincoln's life. The first pennies will be released on February 12th, 2009 (Licoln's actual birthday) and feature the log cabin where he was born in Kentucky. The other designs will be introduced in three-month intervals. Link -via Geek Like Me

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NIST’s conducts its nanosoccer competitions and demonstrations in conjunction with RoboCup, an international organization dedicated to using the game of soccer as a testing ground for the robotics technologies of the future. NIST’s goal in coordinating competitions between the world’s smallest robots—known as nanobots (nanoscale robots)—is to show the feasibility and accessibility of technologies for fabricating MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), tiny mechanical devices built onto semiconductor chips and measured in micrometers (millionth of a meter).

Looks like a lot of fun to me! Read more at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/calmed/nanosoccer.html -via the Presurfer, who is celebrating eight years online today!

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Mercury thiocyanide {wiki} is the chemical once used in the fireworks called "snakes". Burning it produces poisonous mercury vapors. So don't try this at home! -via the Presurfer

Research on the "geography of personality" finds that certain regions of the US correlate with certain personality traits. Some of these traits feed into stereotypes; others don't.

Even after controlling for variables such as race, income and education levels, a state's dominant personality turns out to be strongly linked to certain outcomes. Amiable states, like Minnesota, tend to be lower in crime. Dutiful states -- an eclectic bunch that includes New Mexico, North Carolina and Utah -- produce a disproportionate share of mathematicians. States that rank high in openness to new ideas are quite creative, as measured by per-capita patent production. But they're also high-crime and a bit aloof. Apparently, Californians don't much like socializing, the research suggests.

The study did not control for how long a person lived in their current state. It also did not find out why personality traits congregate the way they do. Is it something about the region itself, or the genes of the people born there? Can you "catch" certain traits by moving to a new state? My home state of Kentucky is only ranked high for neuroticism. The Wall Street Journal article includes an interactive map where you can look up your state's personality traits. Link -Thanks, christophe!

Travel through the Gobi desert in Mongolia, and you might have an opportunity to stay at the Three Camel Lodge. You will stay in one of thirty gers (tents) made of felt and wood, and pay only around $300 a night. This is one of 10 Seriously Unusual & Outlandishly Weird Asian Hotels. Link -Thanks, Andy!

If you liked Olle Hemmendorff's kitchen floor, you'll love this! Charlie Kratzer of Lexington, Kentucky wanted something a little snazzier than bare cream-colored walls in his basement rec room. So he went to work with Sharpies and Magic Markers and doodled his masterpiece.

There are fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill lounging with George Bernard Shaw — and the TV squirrel Rocky and his less adroit moose pal Bullwinkle.

Says Kratzer of his cartoon of a cartoon: "You appreciate the cleverness more as an adult."

There's Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. There is Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and the Cornell Law School, of which Kratzer is an alumnus. There is Kratzer's dad. There is the harlequin pattern — alluded to in culinary culture today by the Panera bread bag — and a fake fireplace facing a real one.

There are both The Walrus and the Carpenter (from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There), and William Shakespeare. The Marx Brothers peer around a corner. A flip-top garbage can is transformed via marker art into Star Wars' plucky little beeper R2D2.

The Herald-Leader has a 360 degree panorama of the finished basement. Link -via reddit