How well do you remember the guests on Sesame Street? Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss asks you which news anchors and reporters made a guest appearance on the PBS kid’s show. I didn’t even finish the quiz, since I was already... let’s just say I was already in school when Sesame Street premiered in 1969. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15050

Robert Maddox sells jet engines. He attached a 50 pound pulsejet engine to a bicycle, and now it can go 75 mph! It makes a LOT of noise, and might not be all that safe. Gizmodo has the video. Link

Tim posted a tutorial on how to cast molded polyurethane. He included a couple of his own projects as examples, including these LED cube lights, made in an ice cube tray. Even more interesting is the next set of lights he tried, which didn’t turn out at all as planned, but still ended up looking pretty cool! Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

Robert Garside was the first man to run all the way round the world.

With almost no money to his name, he started running. His adventures during the trek included being shot at in South Africa, almost shot in Panama, imprisoned in China and nearly mugged in Mexico. On the plus side, he met his wife in Venezuela. The run took him five years but he did manage to do it and got a Guinness World Record title for his efforts.

Garside’s story is just one of 18 Of The Most Insane Journeys In Recent History. You’ll also see the guy who swam the Atlantic, the woman who walked for 30 years to promote peace, and the 19th century woman who rode around the world on a bicycle! Link

On May 19, 1780 the skies grew dark at midday in New England. There had been reports of smoky skies for a few days already, but then it became so dark that animals returned to their sleeping quarters.

It was darkest in northeastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine, but it got dusky through most of New England and as far away as New York. At Morristown, New Jersey, Gen. George Washington noted it in his diary.

In the darkest area, people had to take their midday meals by candlelight. A Massachusetts resident noted, "In some places, the darkness was so great that persons could not see to read common print in the open air." In New Hampshire, wrote one person, "A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet."

At Hartford, Col. Abraham Davenport opposed adjourning the Connecticut legislature, thus: "The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause of an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty."

The source of the blackout was a mystery, although there was always speculation that it came from a faraway forest fire. The definitive answer came only in 2007. Read the entire story at Wired. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/05/dayintech_0519

(image source: The Weather Doctor)

These guys built a boulder using five million Lego bricks, then sent it rolling down a hill in San Francisco chasing a guy dressed as Indiana Jones! The boulder met its match in a car parked along the way. See the video at Gizmodo. Link -via reddit

This is a bit of fun for a minute or two! Control the spider with your mouse. That curious six-legged thing with a dog’s tail and a beak isn’t so easy to control. Link -via Le Web ...et le reste.

(YouTube link)
Soviet dancers backed by “It’s Like That” by Run DMC. -via Digg

If South African runner Oscar Pistorius qualifies for the Olympics, he won’t be the only South African amputee competing in Beijing. Last month, Natalie Du Toit made the Olympic team in the new 10K Open Water Swimming {wiki} event. Du Toit lost the lower half of her left leg seven years ago in a traffic accident. She is the first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympic games.

Unlike Pistorius, Du Toit does not wear a prosthetic leg in races and is therefore free to compete in Beijing. It is akin to competing in a sculling race with one scull or a kayak race with a single-bladed paddle. Her secret? Well, there is no secret, she says, no physical or technical trick to compensate for the loss of a limb. Just hard work and obsessive determination. "There's no real compensation. You just do the hours in the swimming pool, you do the hours of racing and you do the hours of mental preparation. You just go out and give it everything. I don't even think of one leg, two legs. When you're racing in an able-bodied competition you're all equal and you go out there and try your best, and that's what counts.

"Swimming is my passion and something that I love. Going out there in the water, it feels as if there's nothing wrong with me. I go out there and train as hard as anybody else. I have the same dreams, the same goals. It doesn't matter if you look different. You're still the same as everybody else because you have the same dream."

Du Toit narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympic swmming team in 2000, before her amputation. Link to story. Du Toit’s website.

(image credit: Associated Press)

(LiveLeak link)
Don't keep putting off your termite inspection! -via Arbroath

Homemade whiskey is still illegal in all 50 states and most countries, but the craft is making a comeback. This time around, it’s a geek hobby instead of a moneymaking venture, with a focus on quality as opposed to quantity.

"It took me years, but with practice and dedication you can make any spirit every bit as good as a commercial distiller," says Dave Robison, 42, owner of Pioneer Spirits, a single-batch distillery in Chico, California. "You might not be able to reproduce it exactly, but it will be as good as anything you can buy on the top shelf."

Anyone who wants to try distilling is cautioned to do their homework first.

After all, he says, "This ain't stamp collecting."

Wired has an overview of the hobby, with links to sites and forums for home distillers. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2008/05/modern_moonshine

(image credit: unprose)

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius (featured previously at Neatorama) has won an appeal and will compete to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

The 21-year-old, who runs on specially adapted carbon fibre blades after having his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, saw the ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The 400m runner was barred from all competitions involving able-bodied athletes because of claims that the artificial legs he uses give him an unfair advantage.

"Today, I can pursue my dream of competing in the Olympic Games. If it's not for Beijing, it will be for London in 2012," said the South African, nicknamed 'Bladerunner'.

The South African runner still has an uphill battle. His personal best time for the 400 meter is 46.46 seconds. To qualify for the Olympic team, he must beat 45.95 seconds. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWOS0zFQ_pdZfYBsxOqrx0VAjchw -via YesButNoButYes

There’s a fascinating article explaining the "advantages" of the Cheetah prosthetic limbs Pistorius uses at Cocktail Party Physics (after the first couple of paragraphs). Link

21-year-old William Lopez was ejected from his graduation ceremony Thursday at Yankee Stadium. New York University held its commencement at the ballpark because of construction at Washington Square Park. The students were told to stay off the field, but Lopez couldn’t resist the temptation to run the bases.

"The students had been repeatedly advised . . . that they were strictly prohibited from being on the field," said NYU spokesman John Beckman.

About three-quarters of the way through the ceremony, Lopez, wearing his gown and mortarboard, leaped over the right-field fence onto the field.

He sprinted across the outfield behind second base and made it to third, as many in the crowd, which also included 20,000 guests, cheered him on.

Stadium security and NYPD officers apprehended him before he made it to home plate. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Robert Miller)

Here’s a gadget that will keep a half of a banana fresh.

NANA Saver™ Banana Holder Eliminates waste so you can enjoy half now, and half later. Keeps a sliced banana fresher, longer by reducing exposure to air. Hinged banana shaped body with tiny teeth grip sliced bananas firmly in place and flat plate presses snug against banana face to minimize air contact.

Only $2.98. Personally, I just fold the first half of the banana peel over the exposed fruit, although eating only half a banana is a rare thing at my house. dd -via the Presurfer

Among blogs with very specific subjects, this is one of the most focused. It’s a blog dedicated to the ampersand, the typographical character for “and”.

I like the ampersand. I think it is often the most attractive punctuation mark of them all. This blog is an attempt to give this humble character the respect it deserves. If you would like to submit some ampersand-related content, please let me know.

Link -via Dump Trumpet