Japanese artist Aki Inomata once asked "Why not hand over a shelter to hermit crabs?" and answered her own question with this: a series of plastic shells modeled after the New York City skyline, a Parisian apartment, as well as typical architectures of other countries.

Aki's said:

In this piece I gave hermit crabs shelters that I had made for them, and if they liked my shelters, I got them to use them as their shell. I overheard that the land of the former French Embassy in Japan had been French until October 2009; that it was to become Japanese for the following fifty years, and then be returned to France. This concept made me think of hermit crabs, which change their shells. The same piece of land is peacefully transferred from one country to the other. These kinds of things take place without our being aware of it. On the other hand, similar events are not unrelated to us as individuals. For example acquiring nationality, moving, and migration. The hermit crabs wearing the shelters I built for them, which imitate the architecture of various countries, appeared to be crossing various national borders.

Aki's website | Designboom has more pics

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Here's more proof that a little child can learn anything her parents are interested in teaching her: a two-year-old Russian girl recognizes all kinds of vehicles from their logos. They are pronounced a little differently in Russian, but I'm impressed. I was in my twenties before I could recognize any car brand besides Volkswagen, and in my forties before I could reliably recognize American cars. -via Tastefullly Offensive

Jennifer Z painted this scary Adventure Time scene on her brother's ukulele. Is it from a particular episode? I can't place it.

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"The most serious health problem in the U.S. today is obesity." The all-too-familiar sentence started an article about obesity in America that would fit right at home right now ... except it was actually written 60 years ago.

In 1954, LIFE Magazine featured an article titled "The Plague of Overweight," in which they followed the journey of a woman named Dorothy Bradley who struggled with overeating and body-image issues that many of us can relate to today.

Ben Cosgrove of LIFE wrote in this blog post:

"Some five million Americans," LIFE wrote [back in 1954], "medically considered 'obese,' weigh at least 20% more than normal and, as a result, have a mortality rate one-and-a-half times higher than their neighbors…. Another 20 million Americans are classed by doctors and insurance men as overweight (10% above normal) and are drastically prone to diabetes, gallstones, hernia, kidney and bladder impairments and complications during surgery and pregnancy."

Today the numbers cited by LIFE have ballooned to even more appalling proportions: according to the CDC, "more than a third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2 – 19 years are obese."

But perhaps the most astonishing and troubling statistic about obesity in the USA relates to the speed with which this affliction has taken hold: for example, in 2010 (again according to the CDC), "there were 12 states with an obesity prevalence of 30%. In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30% or more." Feel free to read that again — and try to imagine the toll those millions upon millions of extra pounds will have on the health of those men, women and children, and on the nation's economy.

Read the rest over at LIFE: Link

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We've all seen videos of skateboarding bulldogs before, but for owners who aren't quite sure how to get their dogs rolling, Ivan Juscamaita is here to help. His weekly school session in Brazil is the first organized effort to educate dogs to skateboard. 

Excuse me while I book a flight to Brazil really quick...not to train my dog, but just to watch a class and die of cuteness.

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Peeta Mellark - The Hunger Games Action Figure

Can't wait to till the next installment of the Hunger Games movie is released? Now you can count down the days, hours, and minutes in the splendid company of the Peeta Mellark - The Hunger Games Action Figure from the NeatoShop. This fantastic collectible item measures 7" tall. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Action Figures, Dolls & Models. 

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Now that's the art of recycling! Redditor jorimoo made this dress from pages of an old thesaurus. It is lined with fabric, for comfort. See more pictures at imgur. Link -via Laughing Squid

It's the pizza that Gotham deserves and, yes, really needs right now. Daily Superheroes made a pizza to satisfy your hunger for justice.

Link -via Obvious Winner

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Nick Bertke celebrated his birthday yesterday by posting his latest remix, made completely from the sounds found in the 1964 Disney movie Mary Poppins. It's not the first time he's remixed that particular movie. -via Viral Viral Videos

Let's say that you run a high-end boutique in Los Angeles. A celebrity like comedian Carrot Top or blogger Miss Cellania walks in, looks around, then leaves without being recognized. You've just lost a good marketing opportunity.

That's why some shops are installing cameras and software that detect celebrities and alert staff to their presence:

The U.K.-based company already supplies similar software to security services to help identify terrorists and criminals. The ID technology works by analyzing footage of people's faces as they walk through a door, taking measurements to create a numerical code known as a "face template," and checking it against a database.

In the retail setting, the database of customers' faces is comprised of celebrities and valued customers, according to London's Sunday Times. If a face is a match, the program sends an alert to staff via computer, iPad or smartphone, providing details like dress size, favorite buys or shopping history.

The software works even when people are wearing sunglasses, hats and scarves. Recent tests have found that facial hair, aging, or changes in weight or hair color do not affect the accuracy of the system.

Link -via Popular Science

(Photo: Hoggarazzi Photography)

Peter Jackson posted a series of updates on Facebook about the very last day of filming The Hobbit movies. He spent 15 years doing the six Tolkien films, with a total of 771 days of shooting that ended today in New Zealand. You can check out the activities on his Facebook page or see a recap at Buzzfeed. Link

(Image credit: Peter Jackson)

Quick: which neighboorhoods above feel safe to you? How about iffy?

Paul Salesses, Katja Schechtner, and César A. Hidalgo built an online survey using images from Google Street View and ask study participants to select which neighborhood feels safe just by looking at the picture. They found that little things like trash on the street could act as subconscious cue that people use to gauge the perceived safety of a place:

Have enough people compare paired images of streets in New York or Boston, for instance, for the scenes that look more "safe" or "upper-class," and eventually some patterns start to emerge.

"We found images with trash in it, and took the trash out, and we noticed a 30 percent increase in perception of safety," Salesses says. "It's surprising that something that easy had that large an effect."

This also means some fairly cost-effective government interventions – collecting trash – could have a significant impact on how safe people feel in a neighborhood."It’s like bringing a data source to something that’s always been subjective," Salesses says.

When Salesses compare the neighborhoods that people perceived as safe against crime data, it turns out that these places are actually safer compared to the rest of the city. Emily Badger of The Atlantic Cities has the post: Link | The paper over at PLOS ONE

At a recent reenactment of the Battle of Hastings (1066), people dressed in military uniforms worn throughout English history, including the Roman, Norman, Georgian and Galactic Imperial periods. In The Independent, Felicity Morse describes the appearance of a stormtrooper:

The appearance of the stormtrooper clashed somewhat with the historical characters, making it appear like some kind of time-travellers reunion.

However one online commenter said it was important not to criticise the stormtrooper, posting

"He is just networking looking for a job. Ever since the destruction of the Death Star and the collapse off the Empire there aren't many employment opportunities for stormtroopers.

"Especially with the discrimination and residual angst towards those that fought on the losing side of the rebellion. Please don't perpetuate the unjust treatment of these people that are just trying to fit in and become a productive member of society"

Link -via Dave Barry

(Photo: English Heritage)

Peanut butter, marshmallow cream and chocolate all together in creamy frozen goodness? Sign me up for that ice cream party. You can make your own at home with the instructions from This Gal Cooks.

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There are 340,000 cherry trees in in Jinhae, South Korea. When they bloom in the spring, they create a dazzling display of falling blossoms. Gyeonghwa Station, where this photo was taken, is a popular tourist attraction for that reason.

Link | Photo: Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom Festival

Hate working on weekends? That's because you *can* work on weekends.

Not so in France, where tough labor laws prohibit stores from being open on Sunday. That's why some people are striking ... for the right to work more:

... with France weighed down with economic trouble, a new group of employees from two large hardware store chains is demanding to work more, and it’s pulled its slogan straight from the Obama campaign.

The protestors at a recent protest in Paris chanted, “Yes, Week-End,” in their effort to convince French officials to allow them to work on Sundays.

The French government restricts most stores from opening on Sundays -- a day traditionally reserved for family time in France.

Christopher Werth of American Public Media's Marketplace World has the story: Link

Oh Where Is My Personal Assistant Luggage Tag

Are you off on an exciting summer adventure? Make sure you can spot your bag in the crowd with the Oh Where Is My Personal Assistant Luggage Tag from the NeatoShop. This humours luggage tag features an eye catching design and a colorful text. 

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

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This amazing C-3P0 ring by Paul Bieker is a great wedding band for any geek guy, but considering the custom band costs up to $3,000, I'll wait until I can find one that translates up to 6 million languages, I'll stick with something a little more low budget.

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This is what you get for trusting your brain with anything important. The brain is not your friend.

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Here's a great game for proud grammar nazis and everyone else, too. How fast can you spot improper word usage and spelling? Really fast? Here's a game to test whether your opinion matches your skills. All you have to do is decide whether the sentence is typed correctly. Link  -via b3ta

Andrew Dixon, the personal trainer pictured above, warns that the before and after photos shown in ads for gimmicky weight loss products are deceptive. For example, these two photos were taken only an hour apart. Here's how Mr. Dixon created such a stunning change:

I decided to take my own transformation photos to see what was possible with just a few easy tweaks. About six months ago I was around 185 pounds and about 16 percent body fat. I was feeling particularly bloated on the day, so I asked my girlfriend to take a before shot. I then shaved my head, face and chest and prepared for the after shot, which was about an hour after I took the before shot. I did a few push ups and chin ups, tweaked my bedroom lighting, sucked in, tightened my abs and BOOM! We got our after shot.

Link -via 22 Words

(Photo: Andrew Dixon)

The coastal island of Assateague is partly in the state of Virginia and partly in Maryland. The island is home to a herd of feral ponies, with a fence dividing the ponies into each state. On the Maryland side, they belong to the National Park Service. On the Virginia side, they belong to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which thins the herd in July every year with a fundraising auction. But first they have to get the ponies off the island.

Every year the department's "saltwater cowboys" round up the island's feral equines for a low-tide swim from Assateague to Chincoteague, where the ponies are herded down Main Street and corralled for a later auction. The first foal to make it to shore is crowned King or Queen Neptune and made the prize of the festival's raffle drawing. The remaining ponies are later auctioned, either for personal ownership or as "buybacks," in which case the pony will be returned to its island home for another year of feral roaming.

But how did the ponies get on the island in the first place? No one knows for sure, but you can read about the legend behind them at Atlas Obscura. Link

(Image credit: Bonnie U. Gruenberg)

... and you don't even get a cool tote bag if you give! Dan Piraro of Bizarro drew this clever comic: Link

Placing Literature is a project in which the locations in your favorite novels are mapped onto the exact places from the books. There are 1,500 data points already mapped, and book lovers are invited to add more.

For example, above you see a bit of Geneva, Switzerland, labeled with the events of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that took place there. Zoom in to find the exact addresses. In some major cities, you'll have to zoom in to separate the many stories that are set in those urban areas. Link -via HuffPo Books

Redditor meiguess challenged people to write terrifying stories in no more than 2 sentences. Here are some of the great responses:

marino1310:

I just saw my reflection blink.

justAnotherMuffledVo:

I begin tucking him into bed and he tells me, “Daddy check for monsters under my bed.” I look underneath for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed, staring back at me quivering and whispering, “Daddy there’s somebody on my bed.”

Graboid27:

I can't move, breathe, speak or hear and it's so dark all the time. If I knew it would be this lonely, I would have been cremated instead.

skuppy:

My daughter won't stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I visit her grave and ask her to stop, but it doesn't help.

Link -via Super Punch

(Image: I Heart Horror t-shirt now on sale at the NeatoShop!)

Last week's Questions In Need of Answers went well, so we decided to try it again this week. Rather than Google for these answers, we put them to the neatoramanaut community. Because you guys are way smarter than Google's algorithms, right?

1. My wife and I have rats living in our garage, which was built in 1924 and has holes throughout it. Other than implodin the garage and building a new one, what's the best way to keep these guys out? There are a couple outdoor cats already living around the neighborhood, who often visit our yard, fyi. We don't ever see the rats, but we find their feces in the dark corners often.

2. We're thinking about going organic, mostly for our son's sake. We've heard all kinds of arguments for and "against." What say you? Worth the extra money? Why? What's been your experience?

3. Anyone watching the new Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, based on Piper Kerman's memoir? We need a new show but have heard mixed reviews about it. In general, we love what Netflix is up to, though, so willing to give it a go just based on their other recent originals.

Image via environmentalgraffiti.com.

A 100-year-old old tree in Shelbyville, Indiana, held a secret inside for years. Brent Montgomery noticed the locally-famous Old Linden Tree had a leaning branch that was causing damage to a brick wall, so he trimmed it off.

"About halfway up the tree, there was about an eight-foot hollow patch," Montgomery said. "I was standing underneath it looking up and I said, ‘Well what's that?'"

He said it looked like a brown bag from the ground, but when he got a closer look, he realized it was actually a pair of pants. Very old pants.

"It's not like there's a knot where someone might have stuck them in there," Montgomery said. "They grew in it."

After work Friday, Miller rushed to the tire shop to see the pants, which she described as "very coarse."

The bottoms, which the local history authority claims were probably sewn during the 1800s, have a button but no zipper. The letters "HCRAFT" can be made out on the small, rusted button, but the rest is faded. The pants, which are still connected to the tree, are stained with what looks to be white paint.

Grover Museum Director Candy Miller is researching what is known of the pants to see if they can be reliably dated. Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: James Vaughn)

Warning Brain At Work Scrabble Tile Necklace

Are you looking for a way to add a little geeky fun back into your wardrobe. Accessorize with the Warning Brain At Work Scrabble Tile Necklace from the NeatoShop. This great little necklace is made from an actual scrabble tile. It comes with a ball and chain necklace. It's hip to wear square. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop ofr more fun Jewelry. 

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Sure the pony is a little disfigured, but what more do you expect from a pony that lives in Middle Earth? You didn't really think they look just like our ponies did you?

I know we just posted a whole giant gallery of Comic Con cosplay, but it's hard to resist posting one this clever.

Link Image by Victor Gamez

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College Humor staged a prank in which a live human voices a taxi cab's GPS. The service goes from believable to slightly incompetent to downright goofy. This compilation of passengers only contains those who were paying attention. Paying attention can turn out to be fun! -via Viral Viral Videos