****Roundup of interesting stuff:****
----------------------------------------
Note to self - Don't teach monkeys kung fu
And just in general - Don't mess with nature
----------------------------------------
Sacsayhuamán - Amazing Incan rock wall construction
Places you'll never live - Most expensive homes around the world
Losing to win - The neuroscience of screwing up
I love the Banyans, but they're all Amazing trees
----------------------------------------
Rock-breathing bacteria could generate electricity
Engineering bacteria to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel
Using Electromagnetic Pulse Technology to Machine High Strength Steels
Is the LHC going to play second fiddle?
Does Minnesota have Dark Matter?
Living without medical insurance in Japan
----------------------------------------
The video project (Ataque de Pánico! [Panic Attack!]) that landed it's creator a $30 million contract.
If you've got Android - 40 Tips and Tricks
Want something new to play with? - Most popular downloads of 2009
as well as Most popular photography hacks
And just for fun, the word of the moment is "shibboleth"

Stuff that caught my eye recently:
Silicon-Air Battery to Have Unlimited Shelf Life
How Major Labels Cook the Books with Digital Downloads
MIT gestural computing makes multitouch look old hat
Charity: A visual breakdown
What do futurist really know?
That last one I find rather interesting because that seems like an ideal job for me, considering my natural proclivities.

Quite simply the most amazing stop-motion paper craft video ever: Going West
(Made for the NZ Book Council)

Remains of the...well, since last time I posted (aka, cool stuff I have open in tabs right now)
LHC pics - Large Hadron Collider is all systems go
23 years in a "coma" - but really conscious the whole time - he just couldn't move or respond in any way
The "crystal girl" - little girl has to take a cocktail of drugs to keep her body from crystallizing
Intel's brain chip implants - it's how you'll turn your TV on in the future (cue eerie futuristic music)
And just for fun, some sweet slow shutter shots.

This is just absolutely bonkers: Bear Hockey

Dali and his anteater

This is why we're fat: Portion Size, Then Vs. Now

AND...

Going for the "fat free" options (a.k.a., fake fat), is not not such a good idea either, because then this kind of thing can happen, and that's just gross.

Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk Again
...gives a whole new meaning to "You light up my life"
(Basically, this is brain control via light stimulus)

Vegetarian Spiders - what are they going to discover next, vampire moths???
...oh wait

Mac need to feel lonely no longer:
Hackers pay 43 cents per hijacked Mac
...I wonder what they pay for PCs???

So you do your own gardening? Well, here's how to get better tomatoes...if you dare.

Metamaterial Products
This is where you should be investing your money, from cell phone antennas to sonically invisible subs.

This is wrong on so many levels: Poodle "Art"

What Does That Yellow Light Mean?
In many cases, profit, especially when cities are shortening their length illegally to increase number of tickets issued.

xkcd - Tech Support Cheat Sheet
Too true, too true --- geez, I love xkcd

7 Amazing Natural Phenomena (That Science Can't Explain)
I think the Naga Fireballs are my favorite. Thought, a little exploring of the theories behind spontaneous human combustion are interesting as well.

"Web Site Story"
Sometimes, you run across something that's just smartly and funnily done.

Okay, now this is just cool:
Gas-Powered Vortex Cannon - Filmed at 1300fps

Blue Sports Drink Dye Might Help Heal Your Spine
and
Teen Decomposes Plastic Bag in Three Months
and
Mutant Immortal(?) Worms
...that is all.

Newest iPhone Available Only For Most Loyal Customers
Maybe we should call them iFanatics. Ah, you gotta love The Onion.

Urbanscape - "...as if Optimus Prime were redesigned by M.C. Escher"
As seen on O. M. Ungers' "Galerie der Gegenwart" - very cool 3D projection

Whipped(?)
Eh, maybe, but some of these guys have good reason to act the way they do. Others, not so much.

North Korea publicly executes Christian for giving away the Bible
Yes people, persecution for faith still happens today, much more than we would like to believe.

The Ultimate (and somewhat insane) Push-up Guide: 35+ Push-up Exercises
On a side note, I think I just found a new favorite site: ArtOfManliness.com

The invisible artist: Liu Bolin
Okay, not quite invisible, but still pretty cool.

Richard Feynman: The Messenger Series
Pretty interesting. He got a (joint) Nobel prize shortly after teaching this series.
(Seven lectures on physics at Cornell in 1964). I did not realize that he was the one who got nanotech going.
Whole thing is hosted my Microsoft - pretty slick site.

Did you know that you glow, literally.
A new study shows that humans bioluminescence, in 24 hour cycles, no less. Just at a level much lower than our eyes can perceive. Right this moment, you are emitting ultraweak photons.
Now, they just need to test pregnant people and people in love to see if they really do glow 'more'.

Hide your keys! They can be copied from a photo.
Even a grainy one made from a long distance with a telephoto lens!

New to FireFox? This list has some of the most important and useful add-ons.
20 Superb Firefox Add-ons
Session manager, Tab-mix Plus, Speed Dial, Personas, NoScript, and Ad Block (not listed) are some of my favorites.

Inside North Korea
These are some pics you don't get to see every day

The 7 Greatest Robots of the Pre-Modern World
Number 5 is my favorite, simply because of Voltaire's comment:
"Voltaire summed it up perfectly when he said, 'without [...] the duck of Vaucanson, you have nothing to remind you of the glory of France.'"
...read and understand, read and understand (LOL)

Report: 90% Of Waking Hours Spent Staring At Glowing Rectangles
This is sad cause it's true -- but still, you gotta love the Onion

The Life of a Repo Man
Whether it's retrieving big planes from neo-nazis or big boats with the help of a witch doctor, the life of a repo man never seems to be boring.
(I'm glad we don't have organ repossession, yet!)

First Real Cyborg - Honest-to-goodness robot controlled via a living rat brain.

7-Year Old Gina Marie Incandela sings the National Anthem
BTW, she's autistic and didn't speak till she was three...

21 Essential Steps to Make Your PC Better/Faster/Stronger
This article actually has some extremely useful tips and apps. Some are no-brainers and some are meh, but a couple are quite good.

Does Hollywood think Christians are Serial Killers?
The blogger Steven Crowder thinks it does.
Actually, he has a number of pointedly funny videos, such as:

Happy Prayer Day! (Featuring the ACLU)
"The Dark Pelosi" (With Waterboarding!)
PETA and the K.K.K! (featuring Tom Cruise)
DRUGS ARE AWESOME!! (Socialized Healthcare Sucks)
and many more

Shell Oil brought to court for human rights abuses against the Ogoni poeople and conspiring to bring about the execution of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 colleagues
I can not imagine the struggle to bring this to court - 12 years is a long time.
...why do we never hear about this kind of stuff from mainstream media???
Follow proceedings and get updates from WIWAvSHELL.org

15 new words added to the Oxford dictionary...
Bouncebackability, grrrl, cyberslacking, muggle, mini-me...
--- are you serious!!!

Some interesting mysteries...
Eight scripts that still can't be read

Why weight train? For your health! (Including cutting cancer risk)

Here's a novel idea - Wind-turbines inside electricity transmission towers

Invisibility cloak (keeps) getting closer
Can cover the entire visible spectrum now, and without the fancy metamaterials

I am easily amused/like to laugh/enjoy cool things:
Ping Pong Penguin
Claymation Chess (trippy)
Smart Dog
One-Man A Capella of "Brown Eyed Girl"

This is why you're fat (food picture blog)
Some of these look kind of nasty, but quite a few look fairly delicious...
*sigh* Why do things that taste so good have to be so bad - I really want to try those donut fries with raspberry jelly and Bavarian cream dipping sauce.

Unlimited rentals? - That's nice, but I'd prefer the unlimited vacations!

Photo Synthesis - nature photography blog
Lots of ants, but other critters too. Excellent photography all around.

Caterpillar with glomerata wasp larvae
Wow - add another one to the list of crazy parasites.
But a word of caution - the "birth" scene is not for the weak of stomach.

Getting closer to real-life cloaking devices
I say give it ten years to become a reality, considering the progress that's been made over the last 2-3 years.

Trippy - super trippy -- the breakbeat and Alice clip is perfect on this.
Or you can just trip out without Alice with this or this.
Any way you look at it, yooouuutuuube.com is a crazy, cool, extremely psychedelic site.

The Physics of Free Running | Popular Science

The Physics of Free Running
Nice (and scientific) article, with a sweet demo vid

Malacious 'roo
hahahahaha

Native Americans Descended From a Single Ancestral Group
Not particularly relevant to my normal posting themes, but interesting nonetheless.

Kryptos
Mysteries are so much fun!

Slap Chop 'Rap Chop' remix
Best infomercial remix ever

Toxoplasma gondii
One of my long-time favorite parasites - global chances are 50/50 that you're infected. Well, depending on who you talk to, the percentages range from 30% up to 70% or more, less if you live in the USA. It's fun to watch it get broader recognition, as in the linked ABC News article. Definitely one of the most interesting (in terms of effect on humans) and widely spread parasites I've come across.
But don't forget some of the ones I linked to awhile back. That was a good Top 7 list.
Still a toss-up whether Toxoplasma gondii or the Candiru fish is scarier. Probably the fish if you're a guy, but it's fairly easy to not pee in an Amazonian river.
(Caution - don't read the Candiru article if you're squeamish - and ESPECIALLY do not check out the pictures at this site. Or the BBC video here.)

Particle physics study finds new data for extra Z-bosons and potential fifth force of nature
Yeah, it's way over my head to actually, fully understand, but I still find it interesting.

Electrolyzed water
The new do-everything miracle liquid?

Compilation and Cooperation - It's a beautiful thing...
(worldwide street musician jam of "Stand By Me")

Bacon Blowtorch
Prosciutto and oxygen, that's all it takes to cut steel - no, really - watch the video

"Resurrection" spiders
...a couple of hours after drowning they come back to life

Wow - Simply amazing
I've seen some beatboxers in my time, but this guy is just...wow.
Some might their overall performance down a little better, some might be able to impress the French, and some might like their beatboxing Jewish. Or some like to mix it up and throw in some harmonica or flute (doing the Inspector Gadget theme no less!) - or even the NY Philharmonic. But for raw talent and precision, I think that first kid has it.
Though, I do have to admit, this guy is pretty amazing as well (and was one of the first I ever heard, back in '03).
And this is something new - there are girl beatboxers and even dog beatboxers now!

13 Things That Do Not Make Sense
...can someone explain them to me?

Run Better, Run Barefoot
Yep, sounds weird, but it's true - they're doing it at my Alma Mater even. It makes for fewer injuries, better grip, better spread of force, and prevents lazy/harmful running (landing on your heel).

Georgia Guidestones
a.k.a. "America's Stonehenge"

Faster Drones, Smarter Weapons
*file this in the "SkyNet R&D" folder

Bad Star Trek Jokes
'nuff said

Wordle
Word Art Generator - Simple in concept, sweet in execution
(and a heck of a lot easier than doing it in PS, though with less control)

Space is BIG - and we're REALLY tiny. I mean infinitesimally small. Inconceivably tiny.
The earth to the sun is like a speck of salt to a baseball. BUT - our sun to VY Canis Majoris (the largest known star) is like a flea on an elephant. Or maybe more like a piece of flea poop.
Yep - we're kinda little.
(note - link leads directly to a large .jpeg file - 1.43MB/1280x8149 pixels - give it time to load)

Black hole spews out gas jet brighter than the galaxy the black hole itself is within!
This does not make any sense to my understanding of black holes...

Susan Boyle - Britains Got Talent 2009
Wow! Just...wow! Amazing.

Burden or Blessing?
A look into the lives of high IQ people. (Including Marilyn vos Savant at 228)

Peep Dioramas
Wow - just...wow

----All New Levitating Nano-Bots!---- Now with Laser-activated mini-pincers!
(Cue the ominous "the whole earth will become grey-goo" doomsday music)
[Well, not quite - they have to self-replicate first ... but they're working on that...]

Bendable Laser Beams
...curving the bullet is so Hollywood. Curving the laser beam? Now THAT'S cool.

Disney movies are the same
Now that's just cheating!

The 7 Most Horrifying Parasites on the Planet
!!!!WARNING!!!! --- DO NOT READ if you don't have a strong stomach - parasite info is not for the weak!
I already knew about 4 of the 7, but the Cymothoa exigua takes the cake for weird.
PS - the third photo of it is (possibly) a photoshop job (notice the human-looking teeth) - but still - is your tongue feeling itchy yet?

Poker is a Game of Skill
"...poker is predominantly a game of skill, being approximately 88% skill and 12% chance."

Anagrams
Explore what anagrams your name can make with the "Internet Anagram Server / I, Rearrangement Servant"

Nice wave photos

VNC How-To
Set up remote access and control of your home computer

World's Biggest Laser Powers Up
Within two to three years, scientists expect to be creating fusion reactions that release more energy than it takes to produce them.

Meat ants lead Australia's charge against hated cane toads
Australian scientists are hoping the native meat ant will eat the cane toad, that was sent to swallow the beetle, that ate the sugar cane crop.

Robot makes scientific discoveries without human help
It generated its own hypotheses and ran experiments to test them - and has now made its first independent discovery.