The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named eight new natural wonders to the World Heritage List. They are:

* Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada)
* Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China)
* Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France)
* Surtsey (Iceland)
* Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)
* Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico)
* Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland)
* Socotra Archipelago (Yemen)

Live Science has the story, with links to more information on each. Pictured are the lagoons of New Caledonia, France. Link -via Geek Like Me

(image credit: IUCN/Dan Laffoley)

Art on toilet paper! Why didn't I think of that one?

Artintimity is a collaborative, artistic and original photoblog concept where people from all horizons express what they are thinking about...while sitting alone in a toilet.

Why in a toilet ?

Because it is one of the few places in the world where people are unproductive and really alone with themselves !

See the collection (it's brand new, so there will be more in the future) and submit your own if you'd like. http://www.artintimity.com/ -Thanks, Ren!

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Magnetic Movie is an award-winning film by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. It was shot at NASA Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. Link -Thanks, Lance!

Photographer Steve Schofield takes pictures of British science fiction and fantasy fans in their homes.

My practice is concerned with exploring the fascination that the British public has with American popular culture and the sub-cultural world of fandom. In the images, I have shown people in their own homes and environments wearing costumes that they would be dressed in to attend events with other like-minded individuals. It seeks to offer a glimpse into seemingly ordinary lives of my subjects and allows the private to become public. The work hints at the depth of people's fantasies and the methods they employ to adopt this culture as part of their own lifestyle as a means of escapism.

The work makes a political reference to globalisation and America's ongoing ability to infiltrate all cultures via various channels of media. Much of daily life is influenced by 'Americanisms' whether through language, food or fashion, which can often be traced back to music videos, the Hollywood film industry, advertising and American sit-coms.

Link -Thanks, Jon Jason!

Today's ABC World News Webcast features a look at Alex's post from last week, the Top 10 Strangest Anti-Terrorism Patents. Since Alex is camera-shy, I was recruited to fill in. Link to Neatorama segment. Link to entire webcast.

Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test how well you can interpret Microsoft Office 2007 icons. A lot of people find them confusing. I got 58% (7 out of 12) just by guessing. Still, if I used Microsoft products, that wouldn't help me much! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/16348

(YouTube link)
Dopey the hamster has her own private elevator made of Legos! Watch her use it to get to her sleeping quarters, although it takes her a few tries. -via Boing Boing

Which animal is cuter? Give your opinion at Continuum of Cute. You are given 100 pictures of animals, and you arrange them so the cutest is in the bottom right corner and the least cute is in the top left corner. You can also browse to see how others ranked the animals. Link -via the Presurfer

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A scooter made from a beer box. This brings a whole new meaning to the term "case mod"! It was spotted near the city of Kaufbeuren in Germany. -Thanks, özi!

Isn't thing the cutest thing! Forum member WJN milled this tiny robot from brass, to see how small he could make one. As you can see, he's standing on a quarter to show the scale. Link -Thanks, amoebaboy!

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Western Spaghetti is wonderful new stop-motion short from the genius PES. You really should look through his entire portfolio. Link -Thanks, Jon Jason!

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A Google Maps application leads to mystery and intrigue. From The Vacationeers, the guys who brought you the video Google Maps. -Thanks, Andy!

There are monuments to women you've never heard of scattered around the world. In Greece, you'll find a monument to a village of women and children who committed suicide rather than be captured by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Another, in Ottawa, commemorates the five women who sparked the women’s rights movement in Canada in 1920s. The Red Light District Statue in Amsterdam pays tribute to famous prostitutes! Learn about these and more at Web Urbanist. Pictured is the Vrouemonument in South Africa, dedicated to the 27,000 women who died in British camps during the Boer War. Link -via Look At This

A couple of dozen octopuses at aquariums around Europe have been given Rubik's cubes to play with. It's not to find out of they can solve them (although it would be SO cool if they did), but to see if the animals favor one arm (or two) over the others. Visitors will be asked to observe which arm they use when playing with the puzzles. The results will be used for research, but also to make the octopuses' lives easier and more enriched. Link -via Boing Boing

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Improv Everywhere recruited 16 sets of identical twins for their latest project. Twice, they loaded the twins onto a subway train for a performance. Eight sets participated in the first outing, ten in the second, which is the one in the video. Get more details and see lots of photos at Improv Everywhere. Link -via J-Walk Blog