H.R. Giger Cake
The H.R. Giger Cake is a creation of Jet City Cakes.
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in Art Saves, CoooooL
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Indonesian Dragon
Reddit user biophilia curiosis of Operation Wallacea spotted this specimen in Buton, Indonesia.
While participating in a herpetology study we stumbled across this female laying eggs in a nest. She was found in the Lambsuango Forest reserve and was immediately released after this photograph was taken.
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in Animal Rights, It's Science
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New leopard species caught on film
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – The Sundaland clouded leopard, a newly identified and little understood species of big cat in Borneo, has been filmed for the first time.
The leopard, a healthy-looking animal a metre long (3 feet) and weighing about 40 kilos (90 pounds) was caught on video at night at the Dermakot Forest Reserve in Malaysian Borneo’s Sabah state.
“What surprised us was that while clouded leopards are very elusive cats, this one was not scared at all,” said Azlan Mohamed, a field scientist with University Sabah Malaysia.
“Despite our powerful spot lights and the roar of our vehicle’s engine, it walked around our vehicle calmly,” he told AFP.
“It is rare to see the big cat in the wild. These cats are usually shy of humans, it was by chance we caught it on video.”
The Sundaland clouded leopard was classified as a new species through genetic studies several years ago and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature designated it as endangered in 2008.
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in Animal Rights, It's Science
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Wash Your Hands With Plasma Gas
Soap is dead. Never stood a chance, really. It had a good run, but the age of disinfecting our hands in plasma-gas filled boxes has finally dawned.
As the NY TImes has it, several laboratories are working on the technology, which bathes your hand in room-temperature plasma gas to kill even industrial grade bacteria like MRSA. Or your foot, to knock down athlete’s foot.
It’s got a clear and present destiny in hospital use, where doctors and nurses could kill off lingering bacteria, viruses, and fungi in as little as four seconds—as opposed to the time-intensive scrubbing process they endure today.
Prototypes exist today that are both portable and wall-mounted, and they can cost as little as $100 to build. And it won’t stop at just hand sanitizers: eventually you may see plasma gas incorporated into air-conditioning systems and burn treatments.
It’s been real, soap. I’ll remember you fondly in those four seconds while I’m washing up before dinner.
via:
http://gizmodo.com/5472136/wash-your-hands-with-plasma-gas
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in It's Science
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World’s Largest Dodgeball Game
On Feb. 5th, 1,200 students, staff, and faculty at the University of Alberta played the world’s largest game of dodgeball:
Although it will be several months before officials from the Guinness World Records verify the accomplishment, organizers say the noon-hour dodgeball game in the Butterdome was the largest the world has ever seen.
The group shattered the former record of a 450-person game and easily reached its goal of attracting more than 1,000 players.
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in CoooooL
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Daily Dose: ART SAVES
Sayaka Kajita Ganz makes sculptures from recycled materials, and here she’s made a dramatic pair of horses from black and white plastic objects. The installation is called Emergence; you can guess which horse is Night and which is Wind.
Continue reading:
http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/16/emergence-night-wind/
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in Art Saves
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POTUS Obama Creating Debt Commission: GOP obstructionists say NO
WASHINGTON — Determined to have a deficit commission with or without Congress’ backing, President Barack Obama plans to announce on Thursday that he is establishing a panel similar to – although weaker than_ the one lawmakers rejected.
Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson would lead the panel, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the president’s executive order creating the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform had not been announced.
The deficit spiked to an extraordinary $1.4 trillion last year and could top that figure this year as the struggling economy puts a big dent in tax revenues. Even worse from the perspective of economists and deficit hawks, the medium-term deficit picture is for deficits to hit around $1 trillion a year for the foreseeable future.
Obama and his economic team have said repeatedly that this is not sustainable. He told lawmakers during his State of the Union address that he would go around their vote and appoint a version of a deficit commission.
Obama’s version of the commission is a weak substitute for what he really wanted: a panel created by Congress that could force lawmakers to consider unpopular remedies to reduce the debt, including curbing politically sensitive entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in AMERICA - FUCK YEAH!
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King Tut Died From Malaria, Broken Leg, Study Finds
CAIRO — Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, was a frail boy who suffered from a cleft palate and club foot. He died of complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria and his parents were most likely brother and sister.
Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tut’s 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others are helping end many of the myths surrounding the boy king. While a comparatively minor ruler, he has captivated the public since the 1922 discovery of his tomb, which was filled with a stunning array of jewels and artifacts, including a golden funeral mask.
The study, which will be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provides the firmest family tree yet for Tut. The tests pointed to Pharaoh Akhenaten, who tried to revolutionize ancient Egyptian religion to worship one god, as Tut’s father. His mother was one of Akhenaten’s sisters, it said.
Tut, who became pharaoh at age 10 in 1333 B.C., ruled for just nine years at a pivotal time in Egypt’s history. Speculation has long swirled over his death at 19. A hole in his skull fueled speculation he was murdered, until a 2005 CT scan ruled that out, finding the hole was likely from the mummification process. The scan also uncovered the broken leg.
The newest tests paint a picture of a pharaoh whose immune system was likely weakened by congenital diseases. His death came from complications from the broken leg – along with a new discovery: severe malaria.
Continue reading:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/king-tut-died-from-malari_n_463813.html
Posted by Danger on February 17th, 2010 filed in CoooooL
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Steam-Powered Airplane
The Tesla Air 2000 was a biplane built in 1933 by William Besler and Nathan C. Price. It was powered by a steam boiler that was so quiet that spectators on the ground could hear the pilot calling to them. From the video notes:
The advantages of the “Besler System” that were claimed at the time included the elimination of audible noise and destructive vibration; greater efficiency at low engine speeds and also at high altitudes where lower air temperatures assisted condensation; reduced likelihood of engine failure; reduced maintenance costs; reduced fuel costs, since fuel oil was used in place of petrol; reduced fire hazard since the fuel was less volatile and operating temperatures were lower; and a lack of need for radio shielding.
For capacities in excess of 1000 horse power a turbine captures the energy released by the expansion of steam more efficiently than a piston. Thus, the steam reciprocating engine turned out to be unsuitable for scaling up to the needs of large aircraft
Posted by Danger on January 23rd, 2010 filed in Something or Other
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Birds Playing an Electric Guitar
French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot recorded the sounds and images of birds lured to land on and pluck at the strings of an electric guitar left outside:
His installation for The Curve will take the form of a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other instruments and objects. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape.
His resulting sound installation is on display at the Barbican Art Gallery in London starting on February 27.
Posted by Danger on January 23rd, 2010 filed in Art Saves
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The Secret Cities of Yemen
Yemen has been in the news a great deal recently – because of its supposed links with the training of terrorists. Yet little attention has been paid to the country itself – particularly its rich and surprising architectural heritage.
So little known outside the country this remarkable architecture has survived hundreds of years.
Take a look at the secret cities of Yemen.
http://trifter.com/asia-pacific/the-secret-cities-of-yemen/
Posted by Danger on January 23rd, 2010 filed in Something or Other
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White Blood Cell Chases Bacteria
This video shows a neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) chasing a staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
The video was recorded by biochemistry professor David Rogers of Vanderbilt University in the 1950s. Notes on the movement by med school professor Thomas P. Stossel:
Contraction waves are visible along the surface of the moving cell as it moves forward in a gliding fashion. As the neutrophil relentlessly pursues the microbe it ignores the red cells and platelets. However, its leading edge is sufficiently stiff (elastic) to deform and displace the red cells it bumps into. The internal contents of the neutrophil also move, and granule motion is particularly dynamic near the leading edge. These granules only approach the cell surface membrane when the cell changes direction and redistributes its peripheral “gel.” After the neutrophil has engulfed the bacterium, note that the cell’s movements become somewhat more jerky, and that it begins to extend more spherical surface projections.
Posted by Danger on January 23rd, 2010 filed in CoooooL
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David Blaine Explains His Breathholding Technique
Posted by Danger on January 23rd, 2010 filed in Something or Other
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