Video shows how Burton snowboards are made (link roundup)

Video shows how Burton snowboards are made and also gives a glimpse of the rapid prototyping machine. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Nintendo already has a new DSi with larger screen on the way. Which doesn't change the fact that despite all the DSs it's sold, interesting games come out once a year at best.

2. Nuclear reactors occur in nature. Via.

3. Many-limbed bagpipe player.

*Previously: Snowboarder paper toys.

*Buy snowboards at eBay.

Seize the sun

This would be a good poster for geoengineers plotting to create solar energy - - spotted in this gallery of groovy Russian posters from the 70's.

*Previously: Russian Star Wars posters.

*Buy Russian posters at eBay.

Video of three cats playing tug of war with a steak (link roundup)

Or as the video is titled, "Three cats, one steak." Via.

And a few more links:

1. Here's a funny way to make peace with a string of bad luck in the lab - - it's someone from the future messing with you because your experiment, if completed, would destroy the world. (Link includes photo of the doomsday weapon at issue.)

2. I don't know what this means, but it sounds interesting: "The edge of the solar system is tied up with a ribbon, astronomers have discovered."

3. I don't know what constitutes a "memory" in a fly's brain, but apparently scientists can implant fake ones.

(Links found via various people I follow at Twitter.)

*Previously: Funny experiment testing people's memory.

*Buy time machines at eBay.

Dead Tauntaun with Luke wedding cake (link roundup)

Dead Tauntaun with Luke Skywalker wedding cake by Cake Nouveau for Chris Trevas' wedding. More photos here. Relatedly, Cake Nouveau is hosting a jack-o-lantern design contest.

And a few more links:

1. The mother of a dead baseball player is suing Louisville Slugger because aluminum bats make baseballs go fast. Via.

2. Some Jews (and others) object to autopsies on religious grounds. Medical examiners try to accommodate those concerns by making minimal intrusions when possible. But increasingly, medical examiners can use three-dimensional visualizations to inspect the body without making a single cut. The scans are much cheaper than autopsies, which cost approximately $4,500(!). Via.

3. Photo of the new A-Team (and their van).

*Previously: Plush Tauntaun with frozen Luke Skywalker.

*Buy Tauntauns at eBay.

Lego Engagement Proposal Sets (link roundup)

Joe proposed to his girlfriend by arranging a picnic and starting it by giving her specially designed Lego sets. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Eleven paintings by Andy Warhol were stolen from a home in Los Angeles, but the owner decided to pass on claiming $25 million because he didn't want to go through the hassle of the insurance claim?

2. Scientists have figured out how to manipulate the pheromones of fruit flies and make them sexually irresistible - - to the opposite sex, the same sex, and other species.

3. "Fox's Bill O'Reilly has around 3.5 million people watching each night, or about 1% of American adults. That would get you canceled on broadcast television. The three nightly newscasts have about 20 million viewers, not 3.5 million." Via.

*Previously: Warhol vs. Basquiat gallery poster.

*Buy Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against! at Amazon.

Firefox/Fennec logo (link roundup)

Logo for the version of Firefox for smartphones. Via.

And a few more links:

1. "Nokia products say 'Made in China' on the back. Chinese-made Nokia-knockoffs say 'Made in Finland.'" Observation by Eric Barker, who discusses claims here that current Olympic athletes were outclassed by prehistoric man. Via.

2. My instant reaction upon seeing that Twitter is sort of down (8am in California) - - what's happened in the world that I don't know about? (Nothing, as far as I can tell.)

3. Cuckoo clock costume.

*Previously: Firefox t-shirts.

*Buy costumes at Amazon.

V for Vendetta CubeDude by polywen (link roundup)

V for Vendetta Lego CubeDude by polywen.

And a few more links:

1. One response to the claim in SuperFreakonomics that geoengineering is the easiest way to solve global warming, is that if we can't globally agree on cutting emissions, how could we possibly agree on affirmative geoengineering?

2. But that argument begs the question - - if it's so easy, why not just do it without reaching global consensus? Not too farfetched when you hear that the mayor of Moscow "for just a few million dollars" intends to hire jets to spray chemicals on approaching clouds, causing them to dump snow onto suburbs instead of Moscow. Via.

3. CBS News says it has more salacious news (and photos) about Steve MacNair's love life. Via.

*Previously: ESPN spends the day replaying the assertion that McNair was "such a good family man."

*Buy V for Vendetta masks at eBay.

Homemade Batman costume (link roundup)

Batman costume made from a hoody and an umbrella. Go here for instructions. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Probably the most incendiary idea expressed in SuperFreakonomics is that global warming, to the extent it's something we even really need to worry very much about, could be solved in a few years with cheap technology available right now - - specifically using a really long hose, held aloft by balloons, to shoot a relatively small amount of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. The sulfur dioxide would spread out, blanket the Earth, reflect sunlight, and thus cool the planet. (This is expected to work because it mimics the effects of large volcanic eruptions, which have been documented to lower the Earth's temperature.) It's one the many creative solutions to major problems developed by Intellectual Ventures. Of course, it raises the question, if it's so easy to manipulate the planet's weather, then how long until some rogue maniac tries something similar on his own?

2. Papercraft passed-out bear/shriner.

3. Reaping what you sow: A suicide bomber killed 29 in an attack on Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

*Previously: Homemade Where the Wild Things Are costume.

*Buy Japanese Batman toys at eBay.

Forest Milk Bottle (link roundup)

Forest Milk Bottle by Rise. Via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. John Mayer has some quick and funny answers to political questions. Via.

2. Scientists have discovered several species of glow-in-the-dark mushrooms (photo link). Via.

3. Princess Mononoke fan art.

*Previously: Batman milk carton.

*Buy Princess Mononoke toys at eBay.

The agony and the ecstasy of being a squid

Isabella Rossellini stars as a squid on one of the new episodes of Green Porno. (No, she's not having sex in that particular shot.) The series is also now available as a book. Here's one more shot of Isabella as a anglerfish:



The book and DVD are $16 at Amazon.

*Previously: Lego Anglerfish submarine.

*Buy squid toys at eBay.

Watch a feather and hammer drop on the moon (link roundup)

Watch what happened when astronaut David Scott dropped a feather and hammer on the moon. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Matrix themed outfits for bride and groom; cake toppers, also.

2. Image of Super Typhoon Melor (which was headed toward Japan at the time I wrote this).

3. CBS is apparently trying to use remove copies of Letterman's confession from Youtube. Via.

*Previously: Concept art for Matrix Revolutions.

*Buy Matrix toys at eBay.

Video: Ri-Man the Adorable Medical Robot

The designer's site promises "RI-MAN will become an invaluable partner robot."

Occasional NASA Consultants Draft Primer On How Humanity Can Defend Itself From Aliens

An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion is written by Travis Taylor and Bob Boan. In a nutshell, "You'd have to create an insurgency, a mujahideen-type resistance."

Propranolol dulls memories

When humankind was young, this process offered a sociobiological evolutionary advantage: If Early Man got especially freaked out by a tiger attack, that hardwiring taught him to stay out of tiger country. However, tigers are no longer a pressing issue in Modern Man's life. Today, adrenaline more often makes Modern Man remember the events he'd most like to forget.

If a surplus of adrenaline makes us remember, it stands to reason that a deficit of adrenaline would help us forget. And this is what propranolol does. It inhibits the chemical rush that makes memories hyperconcrete. It doesn't erase memories, but it makes them more abstract and less painful.

Read the rest by Chuck Klosterman here

North Dakota made it illegal to force people to insert microchips into their bodies.

The article explains:

Sen. Randy Christmann, R-Hazen, said he introduced the bill for a constituent knowledgeable about the subject.

Initially skeptical, Christmann found that at least one other state had taken similar action.

“Knowing how easy implantation of chips can be with livestock, it occurred to me that it is not out of the realm of possibility that someone in a position of power over someone else could coerce them into accepting a tracking device,” he explained.

Christmann cited domineering employers or abusive spouses as examples.

“I expected to get teased about this bill quite a bit but – to my surprise – I have received a lot of complimentary messages,” he said.

The law takes effect Aug. 1.

Why Is There A Hexagon Above Saturn's North Pole?

No one knows. But come up with the best theory and it could be named after you.