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Neatorama

Botox vs. Drama - 03/12/2010 06:42 PM

Many people watched the Academy Awards last week and noticed that Best Actress winner Sandra Bullock never changed her expression. New York Magazine asks the question, if you can’t move your face, can you still act with it? Aging Hollywood stars have always resorted to plastic surgery, but Botox injections are faster, cheaper, and less [...]

11 (Extra) Special Collections in University Libraries - 03/12/2010 06:39 PM

University libraries are sometimes the beneficiary of someone’s collect works, or collected obsessions. After all, when a relative doesn’t have use for 400-year-old glass eyeballs, wouldn’t the local college take them? Mental_floss takes a look at eleven such strange “special collections” you can read or see at our institutions of higher learning. Yearning to learn more [...]

Woman Sells Two Souls for $1,983 - 03/12/2010 04:52 PM

A woman in New Zealand sold two glass vials at auction for the equivalent of $1,983 USD. She claimed that they contained souls that she had exorcised from a house in the town of Christchurch: The “ghosts” were put up for bidding by Avie Woodbury from the southern city of Christchurch. She said they were [...]

The War Over Exit Signs - 03/12/2010 04:10 PM

Should the US ditch the classic red “exit” sign and replace it with a green man? There are arguments both for and against. For the red: The contrast between the letters and the background renders it highly legible, the illumination stresses the importance of the message, and the color is evocative of both fire and fire-safety [...]

Popular Coffee News - 03/12/2010 02:35 PM

Gerard Vlemmings, whom you know as the Presurfer, recently retired from his real world job and is now devoting his time to blogging. He’s launched a new project called Popular Coffee News which is, unsurprisingly, devoted to coffee and the people who love it. Some of the early posts include coffee science, coffee art, coffee [...]

Oscar, the World's Oldest Pig - 03/12/2010 06:10 AM

Whereas other little piggies went to market, stayed home, had roast beef or had none, a little piggy named Oscar had a birthday and broke a world record: Oscar the pig turns 20 years old and is crowned the world’s oldest living pig. O.K., technically the little porker turned 20 in October, but us slow pokes [...]

70+ Years of Collegiate Grade Inflation - 03/12/2010 06:06 AM

Everyone is familiar with the fact that grades in American colleges and universities are prone to “inflation” over time, but the data are much more striking when presented as a graph. We’ve looked at contemporary grades from over 160 colleges and universities in the United States with a combined enrollment of over 2,000,000 students and historical [...]

Whale Meat Sushi Got Restaurant in a Whale of Trouble - 03/12/2010 05:23 AM

Endangered Species, that’s what’s for dinner! A trendy Santa Monica Sushi Restaurant, funnily enough named “Hump”, was caught selling whale. The Hump came under fire after allegations surfaced in Tuesday’s New York Times that it had served meat from an endangered sei whale, possibly straight from the trunk of a white Mercedes-Benz. To provide evidence, federal agents [...]

Hitchcock Posters Reimagined - 03/12/2010 04:45 AM

There’s a certain familiarity to modernizing and re-envisioning posters for Alfred Hitchcock’s wonderful films, and Laz Marquez has these sizzling contributions. After he did The Birds, he took suggestions from his followers on what else to do. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed seeing this project come to life as much as I loved creating them. [...]

Pitcher Plants: Carnivores or Toilets? - 03/12/2010 02:34 AM

The giant pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes (previously at Neatorama) were thought to be carnivorous plants that could eat rodents. These pitchers, native to Borneo, are so big they would hold two liters of liquid if filled. However, carnivorous plant expert Dr. Charles Clarke has never seen a rodent inside one. He has seen [...]

Baby Care Bear Costume - 03/11/2010 10:29 PM

If you want your little one to look as adorable as this little angel, you’re in luck, Sarah James of Instructables has instructions on how to make your own baby Care Bear costume from a dead Care Bear carcass. Link Via Craftzine

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