Marvin Gaye’s Star Spangled Banner
(YouTube Link)
Although Carrie Underwood did a fine job singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, this offering by Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All-Star game will never be topped.
Original post by Johnny Cat
Painless Parker’s Dental Circus
Edgar Parker opened his dental practice in 1892 and found business was not that great. So he took his practice on the road and became “the P.T. Barnum of dentistry.” Dentistry as entertainment?
Working in the 1890s during the height of ‘humbugs,’ ‘dime museums’, and rational amusements, Parker did what any natural-born-showman would do. He took a cue from the best and hired one of P.T. Barnam’s ex-managers to help him take his practice on the road. From his horse drawn office, amid his show girls and buglers, Parker promised that he would painlessly extract a rotten tooth for 50 cents. And if the extraction wasn’t painless, he would give the customer $5.00, the equivalent of roughly $115 today. Parker’s band actually served a three way purpose. First it drew a crowd. Second, it distracted the patient whose tooth was being pulled (along with a healthy cup of whiskey or an [...]
Original post by Miss Cellania
Surgically Implantable Bra
Three years ago, Gail blogged about a bra implanted inside human breast tissue to take the place of an external bra. Plastic surgeons have greatly developed this idea since that time. So far, 600 women have undergone the surgery:
Conceived by South African plastic surgeons and currently being performed in Europe, the Internal Bra System is a breast-lift operation that places a mesh-like material inside the breast to support the new shape.
The cone-shaped material, named Breform, is similar to what is used in hernia operations. It’s meant to take the strain off the skin, which after a traditional breast lift can begin to stretch and sag in three years, according to The Daily Mail.
“Breform is like a bra cup without the straps,” plastic surgeon Dalvi Humzah told The Daily Mail. “Over time, the mesh gets incorporated into the breast as the body produces a fibrous tissue that holds the [...]
Original post by John Farrier
Melted Candle Wax Lampshade
(Video Link)
The Impossible Lamp is a work of craft and film by Jeeves Basu. It begins with a large wax candle sitting atop a clear plastic lampshade. Basu and his team had the difficult task of melting the wax so that it would drip over the mold, but cooling it before it could drip off. This time-lapse video shows how they did it.
Link via Urlesque
Original post by John Farrier
Guess That Highway Sign
German photographer Josef Schulz traveled across the U.S., taking pictures of highway signs. He then photoshopped out the text, leaving only the shapes and colors. The series is called “Sign Out.” Can you guess what company the sign represents? More at the link.
Link via Fast Company
Original post by John Farrier
The Greatest Story Ever Told — 04 — The Expanding Universe [Starts With A Bang]
Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential. -Bruce Lee
It isn’t only our heros that expand and grow; the Universe does that, too! In the first three parts of our series, we talked about inflation, its end, and the hot big bang. But during all of this time, the Universe has been expanding.
This is probably the most confusing aspect of cosmology, so tread slowly through this. First off, it is space itself that is expanding. It doesn’t make sense to ask “what’s it expanding into?” Because space is like the surface of an infinitely stretchy balloon: it can get bigger or smaller, but it doesn’t require anything external to itself.
Now, one of the biggest thing that we [...]
Original post by Ethan Siegel none@example.com
Why An Octopus Is More Awesome Than Your Mom
Cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal is back with another explanation of how the world works. In today’s episode, he argues that the personality, lifestyle, and biological features of an octopus make it far awesomer than your mom. You’ll just have to read it if you want to understand why babies equal nachos.
Link
Original post by John Farrier
What does an atheist firing squad look like? [Greg Laden's Blog]
Perhaps not what you’d think.
This is not about appeasement. It is about not being a racist slob.
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Also check out the featured ScienceBlog of the week: Laelaps
Original post by Greg Laden none@example.com
Old People Lewd Dancing
Who says that old people can’t dance? Here’s The Awesome Threesome performing at Leisure World (a retirement community) in Florida.
Check ‘em bust a move (without busting a hip, thankfully) to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean: Link [embedded YouTube]
Original post by Alex
Caplin Rous: World’s Largest Pet Rodent
It’s not unusual to have a pet rodent, but Melanie Typaldos’ pet Caplin Rous is no ordinary rodent. See, Caplin is a Capybara, the world’s largest rodent:
The second part of his name, which Typaldos pronounces like "rose," stands for "Rodent of Unusual Size" (a reference to the movie "The Princess Bride"). He’s also a rodent of unusual abilities. He can walk on a leash and even do some tricks, but Typaldos says it’s important not to exaggerate any similarity to a dog doing tricks.
"Dogs have thousands of years of being trained to be subservient to people," she says. "A capybara will not do a trick just to make me happy. The quality of the trick is very dependent on the quality of the treat."
Link | More at Caplin’s blog Capybara Madness
Original post by Alex
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