Nov 14 2009 Impressive: 300,000 Birds Perform Air Ballet
I have no idea who the hell can tell that's 300,000 birds, but I'm running with it. And by running I mean flying. Just like those birds. Except less graceful. But equally naked! Think of me as like the Eleventh Plague of Egypt, if the Eleventh Plague of Egypt were a naked man standing on the roof flapping his arms. I'm coming for you, Pharoah! *caw caw!*
It's a bird! It's a cloud! It's a bird cloud [yahoobuzz]
Nov 6 2009 Geekologie Reader Snaps Shot Of Moon Dog
I'm not going to lie to you (although I usually do), I had no idea what a moon dog was when Geekologie Reader em_kay11 sent me this picture (high-res version HERE) of one he took early Wednesday morning. Per Wikipedia:
A moon dog or moondog (scientific name paraselene, plural paraselenae, i.e. "beside the moon") is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Moondogs appear to the left and right of the moon 22° or more distant. They are exactly analogous to sun dogs, but are rarer because to be produced the moon must be bright and therefore full or nearly full. Moondogs show little color to the unaided eye because their light is not bright enough to activate the color photoreceptors in humans.
Cool, a moondog! Can we keep it, daddy? Can we pleaaaase? I'll feed it and walk it every day. And if it ever moon-cheeses on the carpet I promise I'll clean it up and spray the area real good with pet odor-neutralizer and everything. No? Well how about a reptile? I like turtles.
Thanks em_kay11, now how about a mooncat?
Oct 27 2009 Amazing!: A Hummingbird Feeder Helmet
This is a video of a hummingbird feeder that's incorporated into a $80 flowery mask. You leave it outside for awhile to get the birds used to it, then put that sucker on one day and sit still while the hummers come to feed right between your eyes. INTENSE! Reminds me of the time I let a murder of crows peck my eyes out. Probably shouldn't have done that. But like they say, hindsight's 20/20. Except mine, I'm totally blind now.
Product Site
via
Wearable hummingbird feeder: they'll think your eyes are juicy, delicious flowers! [boingboing]
Thanks to Fally, who once fed an owl a mouse right from her hand because she's an adrenaline junkie.
Oct 13 2009 Aliens Are Here, Apparently Vodka Drinkers
Aliens were recently spotted (well, not literally) hovering over Moscow and playing with the clouds above the city because they have that technology and like to make our meteorologists jealous for sucking so bad at predicting the weather (you said no rain today, jerks!). And don't even try to tell me there's some other reasonable explanation for this video, because there isn't. Even Stephen Hawking agrees with me, and that guy knows his stuff. Isn't that right, Stephen? STEPHEN?! Need I remind you you're parked precariously close to the stairs?
Thanks to Sergey, melissa and roy, who would have at least thrown a rock at it or something.
Sep 22 2009 Idiot Moron Uses 600K Text Messages/Month
Some idiot moron, in an effort to become the world's biggest failure at life, used 662,258 text messages on his iPhone in a month. Plus the jerkbag got the 12,301 page itemized bill sent to him, so he doesn't even care about trees. I did the math, and it comes out to sending a text message just about every 4 seconds, all day every day. So I assume there was some sort of automated program involved. Also, a monster douche.
Hit the jump for two videos of the idiot looking at his bill.
Continue Reading " Idiot Moron Uses 600K Text Messages/Month "
Aug 28 2009 Perfect With A Lead Vest: The X-Ray Umbrella
The x-ray umbrella is an umbrella with x-rays all over the damn place. It does NOT allow you to see through a woman's shirt. Unless she's wearing white and it's pouring out, in which case, yes, it does do that. And I've got to tell you: as a guy who's broken his arm twice in the same place and now has a plate and a bunch of screws in there (I am NOT a robot, just a man with an advanced biomechanical arm), I'm no stranger to x-rays. Or those gamma joints. You hear that, Hulk? I will arm wrestle the shit out of you!
Aug 19 2009 Screw Mother Nature: HP Shipping Fail
Not to be outdone by Dell's L337 shipping practices, HP decided to ramp up their efforts to show that THEY hate this planet even more. What's in the box? Hit the jump to find out. And no, it's not a tiger. But good guess.
Hit it. DO IT NOW!
Jul 23 2009 Solar Powered Gadget Charging Wi-Fi Flowers
Toyota, in a ploy to sell more Priuses (Priusi?), is installing these solar-powered, gadget charging Wi-Fi stations in a select few U.S. cities (Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles). Unfortunately, I don't live in any of those cities so I'm going to continue stealing my neighbor's electricity. Isn't that right, Mr. Lendoff? I said your yard looks great!
Toyota Unleashes Giant Solar-Powered Flowers On Unsuspecting Cities [ecorazzi]
Thanks to Spikey DaPikey, who charges his gadgets the old fashioned way -- with unicorn tears.
Jul 7 2009 There Can Be Only One: Train Vs. Tornado
In a no-holds barred, knock out, drag out cage track fight, we've got the much anticipated Train vs. Tornado matchup! In the red corner, weighing in at a couple trees, a really confused cow and a bunch of rain, THE TOOOOOORNADO! And in the blue corner, weighing in at more tons than I can count or even fathom with my animal brain, THOOOOOMAS. THE. TAAAAAANK ENGINE!
So, who will win?
Hint: Dora, I've the feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. That's right folks, WE ARE OUT EXPLORING UNCHARTED TERRITORY. CHOO CHOO!
Youtube (fight starts at 1:00)
Thanks to Red, who, together with blue, makes purple. And love.
Jun 25 2009 Stoned Wallabies To Blame For Crop Circles
The title alone might be the most profound thing I've ever written. I smell Pulitzer! So yeah, apparently wallabies are getting into medical poppy fields in Australia and going nuts. Whee!
"The one interesting bit that I found recently in one of my briefs on the poppy industry was that we have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," Lara Giddings told the hearing.
"Then they crash," she added. "We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high."
Great, next they're gonna start breaking into cars and selling themselves to koalas to pay for a fix. And right when I was about to visit Australia too. Damn you, junkie wallabies!
'Stoned wallabies make crop circles' [bbcnews]
Thanks to Graf Zeppelin, SquidgyB, Marty the farmer, Ross and Jonny, who can only make McDonald's runs when they're high.
Jun 21 2009 NYC Billboard Tracks Greenhouse Gases
Deutsche Bank put up a billboard in Madison Square Garden that allegedly displays almost real-time data on the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. And I, for one, can't read that number.
Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division, said of the counter at its unveiling: "It will be a huge task to bring global emissions under control and my hope is that putting this data in public view will spur both governments and markets to move us more quickly to a low-carbon economy."
The counter increases at around 800 tons a second, which, if you are good at the maths, you know translates into, um, a lot per day. At least half of which is my roommate. Seriously, dude's so gassy the walls in his bedroom are turning brown.
World's first real-time carbon emissions counter adds a chilling 800 tons a second [dvice]
Jun 12 2009 Stormchasers Capture Inside Of Tornado
This is a video of some stormchasers in Goshen county, Wyoming driving into a tornado (the good stuff starts around 2:20). I've got to admit, it's a pretty ballsy move -- but I've done it on foot. And yes, I was transported to Oz. Don't believe me? Then where'd I get these Munchkin panties?
Holy Crap, Storm Chasers Captured Footage Inside a Tornado [gizmodo]
May 31 2009 Sweet!: Plant Some Trees, Grow A Chair
The Growing Chair is a clear plastic frame in which you grow trees to form a seat shape so that, in your old age, you can sit around drinking moonshine and reminiscing on the days when you had to use power tools to make a chair (or were Amish). Personally, I love the idea BECAUSE I AM ONE WITH GAIA. And by one with Gaia I mean a nudist. Except I wear jean shorts.
Hit the jump for another picture.
May 13 2009 SICK!: Fly Turns Ants Into Zombie Nurseries
The phorid fly turns fire ants into zombies by laying eggs inside them. When the larvae hatch, they eat their way to the ant's brain, which they also eat, leaving the fiery bastards to wander around like zombies before dying. Sick.
"At some point, the ant gets up and starts wandering," said Rob Plowes, a research associate at UT.
The maggot eventually migrates into the ant's head, but Plowes said he "wouldn't use the word 'control' to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly. This wandering stage goes on for about two weeks."About a month after the egg is laid, the ant's head falls off and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.
ZOMG -- it's head falls off. That reminds me of the time I was getting it on with a velociraptor when my parents came home early so I tried stuffing him in the closet but accidentally slammed the door closed on his neck and his head fell off. I buried it in the backyard, but I kept the body. What? It's okay if it's a dinosaur!
Hit the jump for a video of the flies in action (first video) as well as another of what jewel wasps do to cockroaches (same concept of zombification, but with a completely different method (read: injecting venom straight into the brain)).
Continue Reading " SICK!: Fly Turns Ants Into Zombie Nurseries "
Apr 22 2009 Shower Curtain Gets Stabby On H2O Wasters
Elisabeth Beucher's 'Green Warrior Shower Curtains' help control your water consumption by slowly inflating its spikes (via a questionably energy efficient air pump) as you shower. Stay in too long and you get stabbed. Drop the soap and experience prison. While I do find this design admirable, I have an even better way to curtail water wastage: don't pay your gas or electric bill. You'll still have cold water, and cold water, my friends, is the key to shorter showers. Seriously, I'm down to 35 seconds. Haven't seen my balls in weeks!
Happy Earth Day everyone!
in honor of earth day: the shower curtain that impales you [theinteriormind]
Thanks to Travis, who only bathes the way God intended: with a woman to scrub his back.
Apr 14 2009 A Grass Wheel For The Concrete Jungle
The Grass Wheel was created by David Gallaugher, Kevin James, and Jacob Jebailey of the Dalhousie School of Architecture, and provides a comfortable, shoe-free mode of eco-transportation in the concrete jungle (grass-sandals guys, just saying). And I think we can all agree, it makes a very powerful statement. One about renewable energy or something. No? Human hamster wheels? A-ha -- space technology and growing grass upside down! Yes, very thought provoking. How do they do that?
Grass Wheel [neatorama]
Thanks to Armando, who is all man and refuses to walk in anything but a broken-glass wheel. Nice, Armando, but I'll stick to my burning coals wheel.
Apr 10 2009 BA-BOOSH!: More Volcano Lightning Action
I don't actually know if that's the sound volcano lightning makes, but for the sake of my journalistic integrity, let's run with it.
When Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano began rumbling back to life in January, a team of researchers scrambled to set up a system called a Lightning Mapping Array that would be able to peer through the dust and gas of any eruption that occurred to the lightning storm happening within. Lightning is known to flash in the tumultuous clouds belched out during volcanic eruptions.
The lightning produced when Redoubt finally erupted on March 22 was "prolific," said physicist Paul Krehbiel of New Mexico Tech.
Cool. Not as dramatic as last year's Chaitén volcano eruption, but this one does have a smiley face in the lightning. Can you see it? It's there on the right. Kind of looks like a giant monkey head....
....
....
THEY'VE FOUND MONKEY ISLAND!
Dramatic Image Shows Volcano's Lightning [livescience]
Thanks to Watch, who once punched a cloud in the face and made it cry rain. True story.
Mar 20 2009 Underwater Volcano: Ka-Boom Shacka Lacka!
That's right folks, an underwater volcano off the coast of Tonga (near Fiji) has been erupting recently, causing all kinds of mean-nasty things to happen. Just kidding. There has been some smoke and ash though.
Scientists sailed Thursday to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga -- shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific ocean.Authorities said Thursday the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected.
Really, no reports of fish or animals being affected? I find that a little hard to believe. Come on now folks, I'm not five anymore, I can take some deceased fishes. Seriously, you don't have secretly replace my dead hamster with one that looks like him. Wait, you did what? NOOOOOOO -- NOT MR. CHEEKEYS! WAAAAAAAAA, I JUST WANT TO DIE!
Hit the jump for a worthwhile VIDEO of the action.
Continue Reading " Underwater Volcano: Ka-Boom Shacka Lacka! "
Mar 20 2009 Okay: Robo-Fish To Detect Ocean Pollution
This robotic fish, which looks like it was made out of precious jewels, isn't, but was actually created to detect pollutants in the earth's oceans.
The 1.5 meter long robotic fish each requires about $30,000 to make. Their purpose is to head out into the open water, take in data about water pollutants, return to a charging station about every 8 hours and while charging, submit data about water quality.
The issues with this first batch of fish is pretty clear - they're way too expensive to be made in numbers big enough to be very helpful; their charge lasts just 8 hours so they aren't able to have a very large range away from their charging stations; they run a pretty good risk of getting a bite taken out of them.
$30,000? Jesus. For half the cost of a single fish I'll rent a paddle boat and troll the underwater sensors myself. I swear, these idiotic scientists think a robot is the solution to every freaking problem. Which leads me to my next question -- how much do you think a robotic fish would fetch on eBay? Wow, really? Grab your tacklebox and meet me by the dinghy!
Video of the very life-like swimming fish after the jump.
Continue Reading " Okay: Robo-Fish To Detect Ocean Pollution "
Mar 17 2009 Oh Grow Up: Flat Worms Fencing....Sexually
I know, I know, I should grow up. I just can't help myself. At least not when there's penis fencing involved. Superficial Writer, en garde!
Thanks to LeftRIGHTleft, a college champion in Tit Kwon Do.
