Is it a wondrous, starry night? No. Grumpy Cat is unimpressed with this painting by Aja, an artist in Schenectady, New York.

Link and Artist's Website -via Ian Brooks

Last month, Miss Cellania told us how Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield makes himself a sandwich in space. Today, let's take a look at how he gets a haircut aboard the ISS (International Space "Salon").

One word for all of you: Flowbee.

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

Why do people turn to cannibalism? There's desperation for food, and there are the psychotic murders, and… well, in other times and other places, cannibalism has been used for other purposes, not all of them nefarious.

Non-survival cannibalism is a whole other thing. And it didn’t used to be that uncommon either. Cultures all over the world have incorporated human flesh into rituals and events. Some of these rituals, like eating the flesh of a recently deceased person at the funeral, have positive associations. Some, meant to intimidate enemies, involved eating the flesh of their warriors. It’s not necessary to go that far back in the past to find that sort of intimidation, either. In World War II, a few Japanese soldiers were tried with war crimes for cannibalism. Except the U.S. realized it hadn’t really ever technically outlawed cannibalism in international law so it had to technically try them for something else.

Read more about the various purposes of cannibalism, which didn't always carry the taboo it does today. Link  -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

(Image credit: Flickr user tarale)

Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company that promotes its brand with signature lucky underpants. Here's a jumbo size of that garment serving as a hot air balloon at the Cheltenham Festival, an annual horse race in the UK. I'd like to use it in a very cheap remake of Zardoz.

Link -via Dave Barry

It does not do to leave a LEGO dragon out of your calculation, if you live near him. And especially if it's as awesome as this creation by Flickr user Fat Tony 1138: Link - via brick [something]

(vimeo link)

In case you don't get outside away from light pollution at the right time of the evening between now and Easter, enjoy this time-lapse video of the comet called Pan-STARRS.

Pan-STARRS first peeked over the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere on Mar. 7 but shortly thereafter it disappeared when it went too close to the sun. Since Mar. 11, though, it has reappeared each night in the west a bit after sunset for a short time. Particularly stunning views came on the evening of Mar. 12, when the comet flew near the thin crescent moon. The object will continue to shine, getting fainter and fainter, through the end of the month.

There's another video of the comet at Wired. Link -via mental_floss

Chocolate, peanut butter and chickpeas--who would ever have thought that they'd go well together? This recipe from the foodblog Peanut Butter and Peppers mixes them with maple syrup and vanilla extract to make a healthy if unconventional treat.

Link -via Tasteologie

The Challenge: Create something between London's Great Ormond Street Hospital and a neighboring building that is magical for sick kids while they're in the children's hospital.

Difficulty level: 10 stories of near unusable space in an alley.

Well, Studio Weave (featured previously on Neatorama) rose to the challenge with this marvelous creation: Lullaby Factory, a whimsical sculpture that plays "secret" music.

Studio Weave has transformed an awkward exterior space landlocked by buildings into the Lullaby Factory – a secret world that cannot be seen except from inside the hospital and cannot be heard by the naked ear, only by tuning in to its radio frequency or from a few special listening pipes.

We have designed a fantasy landscape reaching ten storeys in height and 32 metres in length, which can engage the imagination of everyone, from patients and parents to hospital staff, by providing an interesting and curious world to peer out onto. Aesthetically the Lullaby Factory is a mix of an exciting and romantic vision of industry, and the highly crafted beauty and complexity of musical instruments.

The Lullaby Factory consists of two complimentary elements: the physical factory that appears to carry out the processes of making lullabies and the soundscape. Composer and sound artist Jessica Curry has composed a brand new lullaby especially for the project, which children can engage with through listening pipes next to the canteen or from the wards by tuning into a special radio station.

Color us impressed! More at Studio Weave's website: Link - via Co.DESIGN

(What does it sound like? Here's a sample over at audioBoo)

In 1962, at the height of Cold War tensions, Air Force Captain Charles Maultsby flew a U2 spy plane on Arctic missions to collect high-altitude air samples that the military would test to determine what other countries were testing nuclear weapons. His October 27 mission was supposed to take him to the North Pole and back, but his navigation by the stars was disrupted by the Aurora Borealis. So he decided to turn back. His return did not go as planned.

By 8 a.m., though, Maultsby was starting to get worried. He should have reached Barter by then but his radio remained silent. He also noticed that Orion wasn’t where it ought to be.

Suddenly, the crackling voice of a rescue pilot came over the radio.Concerned that he didn’t have a visual on Maultsby, the rescue pilot started firing signaling flares before asking the U-2 pilot to identify stars. Maultsby radioed that he saw Orion 15 degrees to the left of his nose. A quick check of his own star charts had the rescue pilot instruct Maultsby to turn 10 degrees to the left, but this advice was immediately contradicted by another voice ordering him to turn 30 degrees to the right. Maultsby had no reason to distrust either order; both had used a correct call sign.

The conflicting orders added to the Maultsby’s growing concern. He didn’t know exactly where he was, but he did know that he was running out of fuel. He’d left Eielson with nine hours and 40 minutes of fuel and had been airborne for over eight hours. If he couldn’t get his bearings and get back to the base soon, he’d have to bail out of the U-2, and that wasn’t an appealing prospect. The best advice he’d been given about bailing out of a U-2 flying above the Arctic Circle was to not pull the cord on his chute: it was a better way to go than freezing to death on the ground.

You guessed it: one of the voices directing Maultsby was Soviet. The USSR had no reason to think that Maultsby wasn't carrying nuclear bomb into their territory. The Americans who were also tracking Maultsy knew what the Soviets were thinking, and had to find a way to get him back. Read what happened at The Crux. Link  -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

T-Bone Steak Spatula 

Are you hungry for some new kitchen tools? Beef-up your cooking utensils with the T-Bone Steak Spatula from the NeatoShop. This deliciously fun spatula is made of silicone and has a sturdy brushed stainless steel handle. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Kitchen Stuff. 

Link

She may not look like much, but she got where it counts, kid. Artist David Canavese of Otherlife has made a lot special modification himself.

Behold the half-inch papecraft model of the Millennium Falcon, which took about 8 hours to complete and a lifetime to admire: Link - via Kotaku (Don't miss David's other amazing papercrafts)

The saint we celebrate on March 17th is very different from the man who became St. Patrick. The historical Patrick didn't drive the snakes out of Ireland, did not use the shamrock to teach about the Trinity, and wasn't even born in Ireland. However, what he did was quite remarkable. It stemmed from a vision he had after escaping slavery in Ireland, that told him he needed to return and minister to the Irish people.

He spent his last 30 years there, baptizing pagans, ordaining priests, and founding churches and monasteries. His persuasive powers must have been astounding: Ireland fully converted to Christianity within 200 years and was the only country in Europe to Christianize peacefully. Patrick's Christian conversion ended slavery, human sacrifice, and most intertribal warfare in Ireland. (He did not banish the snakes: Ireland never had any. Scholars now consider snakes a metaphor for the serpent of paganism. Nor did he invent the Shamrock Trinity. That was an 18th-century fabrication.)

According to Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, Paddy's influence extended far beyond his adopted land. Cahill's book, which could just as well be titled How St. Patrick Saved Civilization, contends that Patrick's conversion of Ireland allowed Western learning to survive the Dark Ages. Ireland pacified and churchified as the rest of Europe crumbled. Patrick's monasteries copied and preserved classical texts. Later, Irish monks returned this knowledge to Europe by establishing monasteries in England, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy.

Read Patrick's story, and learn how his legacy was appropriated and made into something entirely different, at Slate. Link

Although we've recently featured the pencil sculptures of cerkahegyzo, his most recent work is the best ever. A baby xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise ruptures out of a now-dead host, spraying pencil blood and flesh everywhere.

Link -via Nerd Approved

A cat named Wadsworth in Bedford, England, may be the oldest documented living cat. Ann Munday adopted Wadsworth from a veterinarian in 1986. For years, he lived in pubs owned by Mrs. Munday.

Now in a house he leads a quieter life and "doesn't really play any more".

Mrs Munday said: "He's like a little old man really, he gets up, goes out, comes in, has his food and then goes back to sleep."

She said she has no idea how he has managed to reach such an age as he had been the "runt of the litter".

"He was very poorly and sick when we got him," she said.

"He was back and forth to the vets in the first few weeks, he was full of infection but with the help of the vets we nursed him back to health."

She said he has had health "ups and downs" over the years and the moggy currently takes pills which cost her about £45 per month but he "is still going".

The veterinary clinic that treated Waddy as a kitten is still in business, and has confirmed his age. The world record for cat longevity was set by a 38-year-old cat in Texas, who died in 2005. Link -via Fark

(Video Link)

This antelope couldn't hear you. Could you repeat yourself?

-via Daily of the Day

The definition of "cool" not only changes with the times, but means different things to different age groups. Rust Blazenhoff of Laughing Squid posted a three-page list of ways to be a cool person by her second-grade daughter. One thing never seems to change: "cool" for a young person involves contravening the wishes of authority. See the other two pages of this list at Laughing Squid. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Rusty Blazenhoff)

Violinist Wallace Hartley was the leader of the band that performed on the RMS Titanic on its tragic voyage in 1912. The band famously played music to sooth the passengers as the ship went down. After years of research, a violin found in 2006 has now been authenticated as the instrument Hartley played aboard ship. Hartley's personal effects that were salvaged from the site were returned to his father, who gave them to Hartley's fiancee, Maria Robinson. Robinson had given Hartley the violin, inscribed for their engagement in 1910.    

She kept the jewellery and violin in the leather case as a shrine to her late fiance. She died from stomach cancer in 1939 aged 59 at her home in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

In dealing with her estate, her sister, Margaret, found Hartley's leather valise that had his initials of 'WHH' on and the violin inside.

She gave the bag to the Bridlington Salvation Army and told its leader, a Major Renwick, about the instrument's association with Titanic.

The research shows Maj Renwick in turn gave the valise to one of his members, a local music and violin teacher.

In the early 1940s, the current owner's mother was a member of the Womens' Auxiliary Air Force stationed at Bridlington.

She met the music teacher who later dispatched the valise and violin to her.

A covering letter that has been found states: 'Major Renwick thought I would be best placed to make use of the violin but I found it virtually unplayable, doubtless due to its eventful life.'

The unnamed owner inherited the valise and its contents, including the violin and jewellery, years later and contacted Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts.

The violin will go on display at the Titanic museum in Belfast, and is expected to be auctioned later. Link -via the Presurfer

Nekofont lets you spell out anything you like in letters made of cats! Just enter your text, upper case, lower case, or a combination, and a neat image like this one will be generated. You'll even get a script to copy and paste if you choose. Meow! Link -via Everlasting Blort

Do you want to live life on the edge? These hot and spicy sticks of happiness will get you there. Zach Wilkins and Jason Medina ground Hot Cheetos and bread crumbs together and made an egg wash with Tabasco sauce. They then dipped mozzarella sticks in the wash, then the Cheeto mix, before finally laying these wonders into a deep fryer.

Link

(YouTube link)

The first full video of the new mental_floss YouTube channel has John Green quickly dispelling many things you've heard over the years. Green will be hosting a weekly series on the channel. Link

Cap'n Snappy Snuggle Duffle

Are you looking for a fin-tastic bag for your favorite shark fan? You need the fierce and fabulous Cap'n Snappy Duffle from the Neatoshop. This adorable plush bag  made to look like your favorite macropredatory fish.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Bags and Totes.

Link 

Australia's gastric-brooding frog doesn't just hold its young in its mouth, but actually incubates the eggs in its stomach. Or, rather, it did. The species has been extinct since the 80s. But that didn't stop scientists from cloning an embryo from frozen remains:

Even though the gastric-brooding frog has been extinct for decades, it's possible to do this because individual specimens were kept preserved in, believe it or not, everyday deep freezers. When going through somatic-cell nuclear transfer, the eggs began to divide and form into the early embryo stage.

The embryos didn't survive much longer than that, but it was confirmed that these embryos contain genetic information from the gastric-brooding frog--that yes, in fact, they have brought it back to life. The researchers are confident that this is a "technical, not biological" problem at this stage to breed gastric-brooding frogs to adulthood. This is a big step forward for the worldwide attempts to revive extinct animals--the Lazarus Project researchers will soon meet with those working to revive the woolly mammoth, dodo, and other extinct beasties to share what they've learned.

Oh, and in case you were wondering: the gastric-brooding frog lays eggs, which are coated in a substance called prostaglandin. This substance causes the frog to stop producing gastric acid in its stomach, thus making the frog's stomach a very nice place for eggs to be. So the frog swallows the eggs, incubates them in her gut, and when they hatch, the baby frogs crawl out her mouth. How delightfully weird!

Link | Photo: Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Happy St. Patricks Day! Oh, I know the feast day isn't until tomorrow, but since the holiday falls on Sunday, I can imagine that many of the traditional American drinking parties will be held today. Check out the "related links" at the bottom of this post for some of our St. Patrick's Day articles from the past -although you need to isolate this post to see them. Meanwhile, I hope you can find some time to catch up on what you may have missed this week at Neatorama.

Eddie Deezen told us about Orville Wright and the First Person to Die in an Airplane.

The Birth of Frosted Flakes came from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The Annals of Improbable Research brought us a rare serious article on The Essence of a Sniff.

When Opposites Attack: 5 Artistic Rivalries That Got Ugly was from mental_floss magazine.

Alex gave us a couple of really neat photo collections. Toy Stories by Gabriele Galimberti: Fantastic Photos of Children from Around the World with Their Prized Possessions was the serious one posted at our Spotlight Blog, and Headline Will Go Here Blah Blah Blah just made us laugh.

Our series of brainteasers from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader continued this week with Disemvoweled, Balloon on a Bus, and The Donkey and the Carrots.

In this week's What It It? game, the contraption shown is a set of shepherd's crook crosscut saw set spiders or saw set gauges. That's a lots of words to describe a tool to check the amount of set (bend) in saw teeth. You can read more about it at the What Is It? blog. The first person to guess correctly was Steve Pauk, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! Among the many funny answers, the funniest came from pismonque, who said,

These are Victorian-era bustle stays, which prevented the embarrassing "sidecar effect" of an inadvertently rotated bustle. The device clamped onto the midline of the bustle, with the fin keying into the wearer's conveniently placed natural cleft, thus preventing lateral bustle drift.

That conjures up a picture, and also wins pismonque a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to the What Is It? blog! 

Congratulations to the Tokyoflash Treasure Hunt #24 Winners! Look for another contest from Tokyoflash coming soon.  

The post with the most comments this week was (by far) What Is the Answer to That Stupid Math Problem on Facebook? followed by Is Sending a One-Liner "Thank You" Email or Text Rude? Tied for third place were Company Offers Free Beer to Employees Every Friday and The Train Optical Illusion. That proves to us that the easiest way to get a lot of comments is to add a poll to a post.

The comment of the week came from Frau, who, when asked What Is the Answer to That Stupid Math Problem on Facebook? answered "42." That is, of course, the answer to everything.

The most popular post of the week was The Birth of Frosted Flakes, followed by What Is the Answer to That Stupid Math Problem on Facebook? Coming in third was To Avoid Wearing Seat Belts, Chinese Drivers Wear Shirts Like These, which may eclipse the others before the weekend is over. Update: yeah, it's number one for the week even before the day is over!

Usability Tip of the Week: Have you signed up for NeatoMail yet? You'll get a weekly update of news from Neatorama and extra chances to win prizes. Those already subscribed had exclusive access this week to the Choose Your Own Prize Star Wars Giveaway. As soon as I learn who the winners are, we'll post them, either here or in a new post. Sign up now (in the right sidebar), because you don't want to miss the next opportunity for a subscriber-only giveaway!

If you haven't checked in with the Neatoramanauts Facebook page, you're missing out on extra stuff you won't find on the main page. For example, we asked for caption for this cat, and got 209 suggestions (so far)! You can still add yours. You're also invited to follow Neatorama on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, too!

Have a safe and happy St. Patricks Day!