(via The Chive)
Monday, June 26, 2017
The 2017 World Taxidermy Championships
Every year, the world's top animal stuffers and fish carvers meet up to show off their skills and compete for cash prizes. Emily Graslie of Brain Scoop works at the Field Museum in Chicago, but she was excited to attend the World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships in Peoria last month. Graslie can't contain her enthusiasm as she wanders among freeze-dried fish, animals made from completely different animals, recreations from scenes in nature, creatures in funny poses, and animals the judges had to look up to see what they're supposed to look like. (via Mental Floss)
The Many Uses for Gummi Bears
I have an ongoing project to make posts for mental_floss articles I wrote way back when that I do not have an archive for. Here's another one, from 2007.
Last week, a chandelier made of Gummi Bears made the rounds on the 'net. I was inspired to look up the history of the Gummi Bear. Did you know Gummi Bears were first produced in 1922?! Candymaker Hans Riegel called them "dancing bears". It wasn't until 1981 that they became widely available in the United States. Besides appealing to kids' tastes, Gummi Bears turned out to be useful in many other ways. Check them out in an article I wrote for Mental Floss.
Miss Cellania's Links
Look Who Caught a Record-setting Salmon. (via Metafilter)
5 mind-blowing things about the GOP's 'Better Care' act. Get ready for a big financial hit -unless you're rich.
Do Giraffes Get Struck by Lightning More Than Other Animals? They do kind of look like lightning rods.
Masabumi Hosono survived the Titanic, but not the public’s scorn. As the only Japanese aboard, he drew publicity just for getting into a lifeboat.
How a Star Wars Superfan Scoured the Earth for Space Debris. Brandon Alinger started building his own lightsaber when he was 12, and now is the world's premiere collector of authentic Star Wars props.
Crowdfunding doesn’t help everyone. In fact, it doesn’t help most people.
In addition to developing the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell did extensive research in aerodynamics. From 1898 to 1912, he experimented with a tetrahedral structure for kites to lessen the weight-to-surface ratio to enable humans to fly. (via Nag on the Lake)
7 Everyday Experiences Other Countries Do Waaay Differently. In this list, "other countries" include Los Angeles and Florida.
The Forgotten Man Who Transformed Journalism in America. Lowell Thomas was the first superstar journalist of the broadcast era.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Why Olive Oil is Awesome
For a long time, I thought the only difference between olive oil and standard vegetable oil was the price. But would you ever find yourself dipping bread into plain vegetable oil, even with spices added? Olive oil is special, and Reactions, from PBS Digital, is here to tell us why. In this video, we get a chemical explanation for olive oil's benefits, plus glimpse into the manufacturing process and some advice on using your oil. My advice: Start any meal by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil. After that, it really doesn't matter what you add, it will be good.
Splashdancing Gorilla
Where does a 380-pound gorilla dance? Wherever he wants to. Zola the gorilla lives at the Dallas Zoo. He's 14 years old, but he has a sense of fun that other gorilla adults don't often show. He especially likes his pool. Zookeepers say the pool is not just for fun, it's for enrichment. You say tomato, I say tomato. The video was so delightful that folks immediately added a soundtrack. The resemblance to a certain movie was evident to Derek Mozer.
You've seen Zola dancing before. Neatorama featured his break dancing five years ago when he lived at the Calgary Zoo. (via Metafilter)
World's Ugliest Dog 2017
The Sonoma Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, crowns the World's Ugliest Dog every year. And most years, a Chinese crested has won the title. But not this year! Congratulations to Martha, a 125-pound Neapolitan mastiff who took the top honor on Friday. Martha is notable for her loose and droopy skin, and her lack of enthusiasm for the contest. Why show off when you can lay down and take a nap?
The dog, from nearby Sebastopol, was rescued when she was nearly blind from neglect by the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project in Sonoma County, where the contest was held. After several surgeries, she can now see again, Zindler said.Martha won $1500, a trophy, and a trip to New York City. Read more about her at CBS News. Gizmodo disagreed that Martha was the ugliest dog in the contest, so they posted a gallery of their top five picks, in which Martha only placed fourth.
The only animal in this year's contest too big to be held by her handler, Martha beat out 13 other dogs, most of them the kind of older, smaller dogs who win here.
Saturday, June 24, 2017
My Shot (Vaccine Version)
Learn about the importance of vaccines with parody rap song performed by eighth graders! No wait, really, this is not what you'd expect from that first sentence. It is actually very well done. The new lyrics are set to the tune of "My Shot" from the Broadway musical Hamilton. The song was researched, written, sung, shot, filmed, and edited by students of the Nueva School in California. (via Digg)
An Irish Man Demonstrates Weather
Deric Ó hArtagáin of TV3 was giving a weather report Friday morning on the show Ireland AM when some weather happened to him. His comrades back at the studio could not contain their laughter, although they might have felt a little guilty about it. You could say they were blown away, but not as much as Ó hArtagáin. Ó hArtagáin was a good sport about it. Let me type that name again: Ó hArtagáin. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Friday, June 23, 2017
A Cow Catcher for People
When the automobile started taking over the streets, people were justifiably afraid of getting hit by one. In response, a device was tested in England in the 1930s that acted as a "cow catcher" for humans. Just a flick of the switch, and the Safety Scoop deployed and scooped up the pedestrian before he knows what hit him. Literally.
I'm sure you have the same thought I did upon seeing this. If the driver sees a person in the road in front of him, why wouldn't he just hit the brake instead of the device switch? That eventually occurred to motorists, too, because the device never did catch on. At Atlas Obscura, you can read more about the Safety Scoop and see a gif of another such device from 1927.
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