Bow ties are cool now, your baby should wear a bow tie...at least during those fancy meal times where you need him to look his best. You can get your little one a bow tied bib from Etsy seller LovelyHomeIdea.

Link

Pid'jin had almost won at the game of love, but he misunderstood which game he was playing. It's an age-old story.

Link -via Daily of the Day

Monkey Evolution by Baznet

Ah, the perfect carrot-eatin' T-shirt for raddish farmers! Baznet's Monkey Evolution T-shirt design is most definitely over NINE THOUSAAAAAND!! Link

Visit Baznet at his Tumblr for more super cool T-shirt designs, then buy one for yourself or loved one over at his NeatoShop page. Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog!

Stupendous Man	No Face	Arkham Psychiatric	Kneel Before Zod

View more designs by Baznet | More Funny T-shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Superman Shield Striped Knee Socks

Look over in that cubicle. It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's the Superman Shield Striped Knee Socks from the NeatoShop. 

The Superman Shield Striped Knee Socks features the Superman Shield logo with stripes. They make the perfect summer movie going accessory. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Footwear. 

Link

The full moon on Sunday will be the closest that the moon gets during its full phase this year, so some are calling a "Supermoon." Yes, the moon will appear larger because it's closer to us, but according to Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, the effect is not as pronounced as it has been hyped to be. The moon will appear about 1% larger than last month's full moon, or about 10-15% larger than the smallest full moon of the year. Here's the science behind the moon's differing appearance:

As it happens, the Moon orbits the Earth in an ellipse, not a circle, so the distance between us and the Moon changes all the time. When the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit we call it perigee, and apogee when it’s farthest. These happen once per lunar orbit, of course, about 13 times per year each. This year, the average perigee distance is about 363,000 kilometers (225,000 miles), and the average apogee distance about 405,000 km (251,000 miles) [Note for math and astronomy pedants: astronomers measure distances using the centers of objects, so the distance to the surface of the Moon from the surface of the Earth is a bit smaller than this, by the sum of the radii of the two objects: about 8000 km.]

But those are averages; the actual numbers month by month are all a bit different. The full Moon on June 23 will occur when the Moon is just a hair under 357,000 km (221,300 miles) away, the closest perigee of the year. The phase of the Moon and its distance from Earth are not connected in any way; a full Moon can happen when the Moon is at apogee, perigee, or any point in between. It so happens this June 23 full Moon occurs just 20 minutes after perigee, so it really is about as close as it can get. That’s pretty nifty timing!

So while nothing out of the ordinary will happen during the "Supermoon," you should still go take a look, because the moon is always neat! Link

(Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)

He's armored with plaster now, so redditor Brettman3 will have to be careful when saving the world.

With a few LEDs, the repulsor could look convincingly realistic.

Link -via Tor

Adding Mentos to cola can be a fizzy mess, but it can also make for an incredibly cool-looking and tasty drink for kids. Handmade Charlotte has three drink recipes that incorporate scientific principles while still making sweet, sugary drinks the youngsters will absolutely love. 

After reading it, even I want some cotton candy made out of a Jolly Rancher.

Link

Not everyone approves of what this woman on a Tokyo subway is doing, but I think that it's clever. She can stay firmly in place and choose a different anchoring point at will. And, of course, if she needs to unclog a toilet on her way to work, she's prepared.

Link

(Photo: Hamusoku)

Vaught’s Practical Character Reader was a textbook on phrenology by L. A. Vaught, published in 1902. In it, diagrams of human heads are presented showing the difference between desirable characters and undesirables according to the shape of the head. Various regions of the brain are assigned to different traits, so you can learn to judge people on your own. From the preface:

The purpose of this book is to acquaint all with the elements of human nature and enable them to read these elements in all men, women and children in all countries. At least fifty thousand careful examinations have been made to prove the truthfulness of the nature and location of these elements. More than a million observations have been made to confirm the examinations. Therefore, it is given the world to be depended upon. Taken in its entirety it is absolutely reliable. Its facts can be completely demonstrated by all who will take the unprejudiced pains to do so. It is ready for use. It is practical. Use it.

See lots more of these illustrations at Public Domain review. Link -via Everlasting Blort

These shoes, by artist Finn Stone, are not only sexy, but they're also easy to store -just lock them onto your LEGOs. Well, maybe that part's not true, but at least they let you look chic while staying true to your inner child.

Link Via Lost At E Minor

A horse named Rowdy was found stuck inside a tire on a farm in Belington, West Virginia. The oversized tire had been used to hold water for livestock, but no one knows exactly how Rowdy got himself into it.

Tonya Long, one of Rowdy's owners who was on the scene, believes that Rowdy got trapped after an altercation with some of the other horses.

Several people came to his rescue, including members of the Belington City Police and the Belington Volunteer Fire Department.

It took time to free Rowdy, but after some rest and a check-up with a veterinarian, he was said to be doing well.

Link  -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Belington Fire Department)

What do classic monsters look like if they were drawn by Pixar? Wonder no more, because Next Movie has got the post: Link - Thanks Andie!

The results of the American Human Development Index are out, ranking each state on livability by taking into account wealth, health, and education. This year, Connecticut edged out Massachusetts as the best overall state to live in.

* In terms of the overall index—a measure of how well states are “improving people’s well-being and expanding their freedoms and opportunities”—Connecticut and Massachusetts are followed by New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

* The bottom five states are Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

The report also has some interesting data, if you compare states that score closely to each other on one value, such as wealth, but low on others. Read the highlights at Slate. Link

Explore each state's results in an interactive map. Link

Here's a clever suggestion from Oreo's official Facebook page. Freeze crushed Oreo cookies and milk in an ice cube tray and serve them with iced coffee. I may try this, but using chocolate milk.

Link -via Foodiggity

Runaway Monkey Air Freshener

Do you often use your car to haul beloved exotic pets, children, and on occasion inexpensive ready-to-assemble Swedish inspired furniture? Keep your car smelling fresh as a field of ligonberries with the Runaway Monkey Air Freshener from the Neatoshop. This great ligonberry scented air freshener looks like the infamous runaway monkey.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Car Accessories. 

Link

(YouTube link)

This cat likes Bob Seger -so much that he puts on a lip-synch performance! (Try your best not to laugh, but don't hurt yourself.) Note: the video is only about half as long as it appears to be. -via Tastefully Offensive

Pssshhh...putting cheese on top of a chicken cutlet for chicken parmigiana -that's so boring and old-school. Why put the cheese on top when you could, instead make chicken Parmigiana meatballs with exploding cheese cavities in the middle? Now they just have to be skewered so we can have chicken parmigiana on a stick!

Link

We've come too far
To give up who we are
So let's raise the bar ...

... with Daft Punk, Pharrel Williams and Nile Rodgers' Get Lucky* as covered by talented amateurs. We're up all night compiling these just for you, Neatoramanauts!

Daft Pianist

YouTube Link

cdza or Collective Cadenza is a group of 55 musicians who create musical video experiments - in this case, five of them decided to recreate Get Lucky with the piano and aptly called the music video Daft Pianist.

Get Lucky, Irish Waltz Style

YouTube Link

Daft Punk may be French, but their song still sounds pretty good when covered in the style of traditional (well, sort of) Irish waltz by Scott Bradlee and the Postmodern Jukebox. We'll raise a pint of Guinness to that!

Black Simon & Garfunkel's Get Lucky

YouTube Link

If you thought that Get Lucky should be covered by Simon & Garfunkel, well, that ain't happening. But there's something even better: Black Simon & Garfunkel!

As you can see from this clip from Jimmy Fallon's Late Night show, Black Simon & Garfunkel (that's Questlove and "Captain" Kirk Douglas from The Roots), has got Get Lucky down pat.

Boots & Cats

YouTube Link

What could make Daft Punk's megahit even, uh, harder better faster stronger? Add a little "boots and cats", then change "lucky" to "neefy," just like Oliver Age 24 did. Doin' it right, I say.

Evolution of Get Lucky

YouTube Link

Not content just to cover Get Lucky, French musician PV Nova covered it in a range of musical styles of 1920 to 2020. Behold, the Evolution of Get Lucky. C'est vraiment fantastique!

Get Twangy!

YouTube Link

Paddle faster! We hear Get Lucky on a banjo (or should it be Get Twangy?). Charles Butler is the man behind this bit of brilliance. Like that? Check out Charles' Beats Antique cover of Get Lucky.

Acapella Get Lucky

YouTube Link

Of course, Get Lucky cover won't be complete without an acapella version. The Sons of Pitches has got that covered!

*Get Lucky, of course, is a disco. What? You thought disco sucks? Silly you!

What did we miss? Kindly inform us in the comments!

A few days ago, the San Diego Safari Park's youngest gorilla celebrated his second birthday. Needless to say, that meant Monroe got a fantastic birthday cake to mark the occassion and like any two year old, he was happy about that.

Link

(YouTube link)

A couple in Ninghai, Zhejiang province, China, left their 2-year-old daughter Qiqi asleep in their fifth-floor apartment Thursday evening. When Qiqi woke up, working men on the street below saw her at the window. They rushed to catch her as she fell. Two of the men were injured in the rescue, but the child sustained only a scratch. Link -via reddit

(Video Link)

Many bat vocalizations can't be heard by the human ear. That way, bats can say nasty things about you in your presence without you knowing about it. But a team of audio engineers reduced these sounds to audible frequencies, then used them to play this version of the Batman theme song.

Link -via Althouse

Or, at least, the internet from The IT Crowd, complete with an on and off switch. And for the love of God, no one had better touch the off switch, otherwise the world will fall into chaos!

Amazingly, the internet can be yours at the low, low cost of $28.33 plus shipping thanks to Etsy seller KineticGifts. How someone on Etsy managed to get a hold of the internet and why they decided to sell it is beyond me though...

Link Via Geekosystem

(YouTube link)

This 16mm antiwar short starring Mickey Mouse was produced by Lee Savage and Milton Glaser for the Angry Arts Festival in 1968. It was never sanctioned by Disney, but they weren't sued over it, either. The film was lost for decades, but resurfaced online recently. Warning: may be disturbing for children. Find out more about it in an interview with Glaser at Buzzfeed. Link

It happened very suddenly for Paul Templer. He was kayaking down the Zambezi River. A bull hippo attacked another kayaker in his party. Then everything went dark:

I reached over to grab his outstretched hand but as our fingers were about to touch, I was engulfed in darkness. There was no transition at all, no sense of approaching danger. It was as if I had suddenly gone blind and deaf.

I was aware that my legs were surrounded by water, but my top half was almost dry. I seemed to be trapped in something slimy. There was a terrible, sulphurous smell, like rotten eggs, and a tremendous pressure against my chest. My arms were trapped but I managed to free one hand and felt around – my palm passed through the wiry bristles of the hippo's snout. It was only then that I realised I was underwater, trapped up to my waist in his mouth.

I wriggled as hard as I could, and in the few seconds for which he opened his jaws, I managed to escape. I swam towards Evans, but the hippo struck again, dragging me back under the surface. I'd never heard of a hippo attacking repeatedly like this, but he clearly wanted me dead.

Hippos' mouths have huge tusks, slicing incisors and a bunch of smaller chewing teeth. It felt as if the bull was making full use of the whole lot as he mauled me – a doctor later counted almost 40 puncture wounds and bite marks on my body. The bull simply went berserk, throwing me into the air and catching me again, shaking me like a dog with a doll.

Then down we went again, right to the bottom, and everything went still. I remember looking up through 10 feet of water at the green and yellow light playing on the surface, and wondering which of us could hold his breath the longest. Blood rose from my body in clouds, and a sense of resignation overwhelmed me. I've no idea how long we stayed under – time passes very slowly when you're in a hippo's mouth.

The hippo lurched suddenly for the surface, spitting me out as it rose. Mike was still waiting for me in his kayak and managed to paddle me to safety. I was a mess. My left arm was crushed to a pulp, blood poured from the wounds in my chest and when he examined my back, Mike discovered a wound so savage that my lung was visible.

Fortunately, medical professionals were nearby. Templer lost an arm, but he survived.

Link -via American Digest

(Photo: Shaun Wallin)

Bryan Fry has suffered 26 venomous snakebites -all in the name of science!

(Image credit: VenomDoc)

Bryan Fry can still hear the dit-dit-dit of the lizard's teeth scraping across the bones of his hand. The lace monitor -a formidable reptile that grows up to nearly 7 feet long- was one of more then 250 lizards and venomous snakes living at his mountainside property near Melbourne. The bite split the knuckles of Fry's first two fingers, severing tendons and nerve bundles. On the ambulance ride to the hospital, it took two towels to stop the bleeding. "I had to explain why, at 7AM on a cold rainy morning, I was presenting with a monitor lizard bite," he recalls.

Fry, a zoologist at the University of Queensland, Australia, is obsessed with the world's most venomous animals, and he's not afraid to risk his life to study the evolution of their chemical weapons -including acting as landlord to hundreds of dangerous creatures. When the university ran out of space to house the animals, Fry built enclosures fort the lizards and snakes on his own property. After all, a monitor bite or two is nothing for a man who talks about venom and stings as easily as an oenophile describes wine.

(Image credit: VenomDoc)

The bite of a horned sea snake? That's "the feeling you get from an intense workout magnified a hundred times and lasting for a month." Getting stung by an estuary stingray? "Truly beyond belief, like hot metal dipped in acid." What about a Stephen's banded snake, whose venom depletes the body of fibrinogen, a protein that's essential for clotting? "There's nothing quite like bleeding out of your nose, mouth, and ass from an anticoagulant snakebite and being terrified that the same thing is happening in your brain," says Fry. "That's a unique experience that I don't recommend."

(Image credit: VenomDoc)

His daredevil approach may put his own life at risk, but he does it because it has the potential to save others. Venomous animals have a history of inspiring important medicines, including viper-derived treatments for high blood pressure and minor heart attacks. And Fry is proving that there's still much to learn from those creatures. Scientists used to believe that there were only two venomous lizards -the Gila monster and the Mexican bearded lizard- whose toxins evolved separately from those of snakes. But Fry has located venom glands and proteins in many supposedly nonvenomous species, including monitor lizards, Komodo dragons, and some frequently kept as pets, including bearded dragons and Asian rat snakes. His discovery, published in Nature in 2005, showed that an early ancestor of all snakes and some lizards was venomous. But over the years, the trait has been modified or lost in different lineages.

For Fry, the discovery was "a career maker," and he used the momentum to test more theories. Before long, he was sticking a Komodo dragon's head in a medical scanner, and the results were groundbreaking. Although it had been thought that the giant lizard's bite was simply bacteria-ridden, Fry discovered that it's also venomous. But Fry's contributions to the field hardly stop there. Since the Komodo discovery, he has found three new species of sea snake and traveled to Antarctica to study the freeze-resistant venom of deep-sea octopuses. And he's about to announce the discovery of a new neurotoxin in vampire bat saliva.

(Image credit: VenomDoc)

Of course, those breakthroughs didn't come easy. Along the way, Fry has been bitten by 26 venomous snakes and stung by stonefish, centipedes, scorpions, and box jellyfish. He maintains the physique of a former competitive swimmer, but his body is a walking inventory of injuries. He has no feeling in his right index finger after the monitor bite ("As if my handwriting wasn't bad enough!"). And three of his vertebrae are capped with metal, after a backbreaking fall from a termite mound caused by "a sudden gust of gravity."

But beneath the daredevil exterior and jovial tales of near-fatalities, Fry takes both safety and his research very seriously, railing against the "carnival" attitude of celebrity wranglers of dangerous animals, who often inadvertently terrify animals into defensive behavior. "These animals have killed countless people," he says, "but more lives have been saved than lost because of the drugs developed through their venom." As for whether the swashbuckling scientist will ever switch his research focus to something less dangerous, don't count on it. "Most conservation effort is targeted toward cute-and-cuddlies, but I've never seen a single useful compound that's come out of a panda."

(YouTube link)

Visit Bryan Fry at his website, VenomDoc.

_______________________

The article above, written by Ed Yong, is reprinted with permission from the May 2013 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

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