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The Art of the Drinking Straw - 03/11/2010 08:39 PM

Fast Company has a gallery of fourteen works of art created from drinking straws, including this sculpture by Brooklyn-based artist Annie Varnot. We’ve previously featured one of the works in the slideshow: Scott Jarvie’s chair made from straws. Link | Artist’s Website | Photo: Fast Company

All Black Penguin - 03/11/2010 07:39 PM

King penguins are usually known for their tuxedo crested appearance, so the recent photograph of a black penguin taken by Andrew Evans of National Geographic has been sparking a lot of interest. Evans has sent back more information on the picture. Our group from Lindblad Expeditions spotted this very unique bird at Fortuna Bay on the [...]

World’s Strangest Delicacies - 03/11/2010 07:26 PM

Every culture has some traditional dishes that make those from elsewhere cringe. The author of this post heard from quite a few people in India that pizza is clearly disgusting! Here are some other offbeat delicacies from around the world. I think I would have to try some of these before I make a judgement. [...]

MIT And Harvard Give Thumbs Up To Virtual Dating - 03/11/2010 07:07 PM

Have you recently met someone you like through an online dating site? Now you can date in virtual worlds before dating in person! (And it’s free!) Check out weopia.com.

World Record House of Cards - 03/11/2010 07:04 PM

American architect Bryan Berg has succeeded himself as the world record holder in number of cards stacked. He built a replica of the Venetian resort in Macau inside the hotel itself. The creation is composed of 218,792 cards (4,051 decks) with no glue or other aids to hold them together. The feat took Berg 44 [...]

A Taste of Their Own Medicine - 03/11/2010 07:01 PM

A van belonging to LBS Enforcement, a private company that enforces parking regulations, was out and about ready to put a wheel clamp on cars in violation in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. However, the Southend Council found that the vehicle’s owners had not shown proof of taxes paid, so government officials clamped and towed the van! [...]

Beautiful Bookbinding - 03/11/2010 06:57 PM

The Royal National Library of The Netherlands has a collection of over a thousand hand-bound books dating back as far as 800 years. A portion of those books have been converted to digital images, and BibliOdyssey has posted thirteen of the nicest. The book shown is a 1914 edition of Das Unheimliche Buch. Link

The Richest People in the World - 03/11/2010 06:54 PM

Forbes has posted their annual list of the twenty richest people in the world. Number one is not Bill Gates, nor is it Warren Buffet. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu edged out Gates with a net worth of $53.5 billion, which is $18 billion more than he had a year ago. This year the World’s [...]

Purple Snow in Russia - 03/11/2010 06:51 PM

On Tuesday, folks in the Stavropol Region in Southern Russia found their countryside covered with purple-tinged snow! Having analysed the samples, climatologists ruled that the snow is perfectly safe. However, eating purple snow is still not recommended as scientists say it is full of dust from Africa. A massive dust cyclone rose to upper atmosphere layers and [...]

The Pharoah's Serpent -- Mercury Thiocyanate - 03/11/2010 03:57 PM

(YouTube Link) The Pharaoh’s Serpent is a traditional pyrotechnic and chemical display in which mercury thiocyanate is set on fire, producing what looks like a very rapidly growing vine. It has since fallen out of favor due to the toxicity of mercury, but sodium bicarbonate produces a similar effect. The video above is a [...]

"Midnight Knitter" Strikes New Jersey Town at Night with Knitted Cozies - 03/11/2010 03:49 PM

Police in West Cape May, New Jersey, are investigating mysterious knitted cozies that are appearing on on trees in the town during the night: But not everyone is keen to stop the mysterious knitter – and the mayor and many residents admit they have been enthralled by the rainbow of colours. Susan Longacre takes a walk [...]

A Short Film Made With a Scanner - 03/11/2010 03:36 PM

(Video Link) Memoirs of a Scanner by Mindfruit Films was shot with just an office image scanner. It’s only a minute long and composed entirely of still shots, but it has a coherent plot. Directed by Damon Stea. via Gizmodo | Studio Website

20 Interesting Facts about Beer from The Oatmeal - 03/11/2010 03:23 PM

Cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal (previously featured on Neatorama) has a new comic up. It’s filled with strange factoids about beer. Did you know that the Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock instead of proceeding to Virginia because (in part) they ran out of beer? Link

What Is It? Game 131 - 03/11/2010 09:44 AM

If you know what on earth the strange contraption above is used for, you can win a T-shirt of your choice from the Neatorama Shop. This week’s collaboration with the What is it? Blog brings us this strange (and spiky!) object above. Can you guess what it is for? Write your guess in the comment section. [...]

Cat and Mouse Calligraphy Art by Margaret Shepherd - 03/11/2010 09:37 AM

Take a closer look at the Mouse and Cat drawing by Margaret Shepherd, and you’ll see that the cat and mouse literally spell their names! See more examples of Margaret’s excellent calligraphy art over at the Neatorama Spotlight: Link

The Nolan Family Dairy Farm - 03/11/2010 05:48 AM

Food Inc. didn’t win Best Documentary this year, but its message is clear: farming in America is not what it used to be. Thankfully, the passion for farming for a living, and doing it right, still motivates some, like the Nolan family. A feature documentary called From Grass to Cheese is underway to show the [...]

Oldest Flying Car up for Auction - 03/10/2010 08:33 PM

In 1934, electrician and hobbyist Frank Skroback built the first airplane that could be driven on a road. Or the first car that could be flown. It has six wings and an overall width of seven feet, so it can fit inside a lane. The plane will be auctioned at Red Baron’s [...]

Woman Gives Birth Three Hours After Learning That She Is Pregnant - 03/10/2010 08:25 PM

Doctors told Belinda Waite of Bampton, UK that she had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. After she went into labor and three hours before her daughter was born, Waite was informed that she was instead pregnant: Miss Waite was staying with her partner Wyane Boyles, 28, when she unexpectedly went into labour. Their baby daughter Louise Boyles was [...]

Epic Movie Trailer - 03/10/2010 08:14 PM

(YouTube Link) The comedy duo BriTaNick created this trailer for a hypothetical movie that would be guaranteed to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. All of the dialogue is replaced with common movie tropes. via Urlesque | Official Website

Inverse Graphing Calculator - 03/10/2010 08:08 PM

The Inverse Graphing Calculator takes words and converts them into equations that would express them graphically: The Inverse Graphing Calculator (version beta-1) is like a backwards graphing calculator. Normally, you enter an equation into your calculator and then get a graph of the curve. The way the IGC works is, you type something you’d like as [...]

The Shining Cuckoo Clock - 03/10/2010 07:55 PM

Artist Chris Domino made this cuckoo clock inspired by the horror movie The Shining. Every hour on the hour, Jack Nicholson’s head pokes through the door and says “Here’s Johnny!” Then the Shelly Duval figure screams. Link via Nerdcore

The Nerdfighter/Neatoramanaut Facebook Fan Page Contest - 03/10/2010 06:25 PM

We’re going to be running a FUN contest over on our Facebook page this coming Friday! You won’t find it here on the blog, just on the Facebook page. So if you haven’t yet, please become a Neatoramanaut Fan now: www.Facebook.com/neatoramanauts. The contest will have something to do with our pals, nerdfighters John and Hank [...]

Mountain Lion Invades Home - 03/10/2010 05:51 PM

Michelle Bese of Salida, Colorado was sitting at the table with her five-year-old while her other child slept in another room. One her five dogs came in through the dog door and was followed by a cougar! Bese grabbed her son and hid in the bedroom where the two-year-old was and called 911. Sheriff’s deputies [...]

How Bomb-proof Suits Work - 03/10/2010 05:45 PM

In the opening sequence of the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker, a soldier wears an explosive ordnance disposal (OED) suit pretty close to the spot where a bomb goes off. Can a soldier survive such an incident? Dvice contacted the manufacturer of the suit to get the lowdown on how it protects a soldier [...]

The Original Fly Girls - 03/10/2010 05:38 PM

The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were volunteers who learned to fly during World War II to supplement the US military, which was suffering from a shortage of pilots. A few more than 1,100 young women, all civilian volunteers, flew almost every type of military aircraft — including the B-26 and B-29 bombers — as part [...]

Cycles - 03/10/2010 03:58 PM

(YouTube link) Teddy bears attempt to cross a busy street. Another gem from the incomprehensible but fertile mind of Cyriak. Link to artist’s website. -via Arbroath

Battlestar Sabotage - 03/10/2010 03:45 PM

Someone has taken scenes from the Battlestar Galactica science fiction series and used these to recreate the music video for the song Sabotage by Beastie Boys. You can also watch both videos side by side at YouTube Doubler. Link [YouTube] – via Nerdcore

The Two Faces of Martin Guerre - 03/10/2010 12:32 PM

In 1556, a man calling himself ‘Martin Guerre’ had returned to his home village after disappearing without a trace for several years. He lived with Guerre’s wife and son for three years. But he was not Guerre. On September 16, 1560, in the small French village of Artigat in the foothills of the Pyrenees, an unusually large [...]

5 financial scandals long before Enron - 03/10/2010 12:32 PM

There has been a rash of corporate scandals and greed over the past decade, but it is hardly new. Here are a few financial scandals that made news long before Enron and Worldcom. Back in 1864, Credit Mobilier was a construction company started by executives of Union Pacific Railroad. They then had Union Pacific make [...]

Water Consumption and Olympic Hockey - 03/10/2010 04:01 AM

This chart from the utility company EPCOR contrasts water consumption in Edmonton, Alberta on two different days. February 27th is charted to show a normal day. February 28th was the day Canada won the Olympic gold medal hockey game. As you can see, a huge percentage of their customers waited for breaks in the game [...]