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World’s oldest car is up for auction (and it’s still running!)

Rica — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:27:03 +0000

A 127-year old steam-powered car, the 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout, will be put up for sale next month in David Goodling’s auction house. Nicknamed “La Marquise”, the car is historically valuable because it was custom made for Count De Dion, and was built some 12 years before Henry Ford assembled his first car.

La Marquise weighs 2,100 pounds, is only nine feet long, and has a maximum speed of 38 miles per hour. It takes a full 45 minutes for it to generate enough steam to be driven. This steam-powered car uses wood, coal and bits of paper.
The car changed hands over the last 100 and so years and had been on the verge of being called junk until a member of the British Veteran Car Club got hold of the car in 1987. The car was then tuned up and La Marquise started functioning again.

The auction house expects La Marquise to fetch up to £1.6 million. Check out photos of the world’s oldest car below:

Via Daily Mail

5 Outrageous X-rays

Rica — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:29:33 +0000

We’ve heard tons of stories about doctors leaving surgical instruments inside the patients they’ve opened up. These instruments can range from scalpel blades to scissors and even forceps. Amazingly, careless surgeons and nurses don’t have any idea that they’ve left these items inside the patients, which could cause serious health problems. Despite the medical community’s attempts to discredit stories about these, there are several x-rays out there that prove these medical accidents do happen.

These stories of rusted scalpels and scissors left inside patients are no laughing matter but they aren’t exactly new to us, so seeing a couple of x-rays of these aren’t shocking anymore. But what if we tell you there are much much worse things x-rays can show you? Like, a gardening tool impaled through a person’s eye socket? Or, a bottle of gin inserted up one’s, uhm, bottom? Take a look at these 5 outrageous x-rays.

Liquor bottle shoved up Mohammad Yusuf’s rectum by robbers.

Pruning shears impaled through Leroy Luetscher’s eye socket during an accident.

Needles found in 29-year old Luo Cuifen’s body. Her grandparents had attempted to kill her, allowing her parents to have another baby – this time, they hoped it would be a boy.

Magnets and steel balls found inside 8-year-old Haley Lents stomach.

Six nails from a nail gun accident embedded inside Isidro Mejia’s skull.

Via Yahoo

Realistic prosthetic limbs now have hair, freckles and tattoos

Rica — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:49:31 +0000

Touch Bionics, a Scottish prosthetic technology company, has just unveiled its ultra-realistic range of prosthetic limbs with very interesting features. The limbs – whole fingers, hands and arms – will have hairs, freckles and even tattoos. The best part about the new prostheses is that they will also have the same skin tone as the person who uses them.

Using Touch Bionics’ latest technology called Living Image which is a new photographic system, the company can create limbs to match a person’s skin tone. This technology works by scanning the remaining limb of the person to correctly copy the skin tone as well as its shape and features. The scanned information is then sent to its Scotland production facility.

According to the company, clients who have received prostheses that use this technology are very satisfied. Although it has yet to be patented, the Living Image technology system might be sold or rented out to other prosthetic centers.

Via Daily Mail

Heaviest onion smashes world record

Rica — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:03:25 +0000

Peter Glazebrook from Newark has claimed the top prize in the heaviest onion contest, smashing the world record with his 17lb 15.05oz onion specimen. The previous record was recorded back in 2005 with the winning 16lb 8.3oz specimen.

This competition is part of the National Onion Championship which is sponsored by Kitchen Garden.

What makes this man amazing – yes, the man and not his onion – was that he also won the award for other giant vegetable classes. He took the prize for the longest cucumber (32.5 inches), heaviest potato (6lb 10.75oz), longest runner bean (31 inches), heaviest tomato (2lb 11.25oz), and heaviest cabbage (64lb 2oz).

The contest was held during the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show 2011.

Heaviest Onion

Giant Cabbage

Via Harrogate Flower Show

Explaining the math in doodles

Rio — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:24:25 +0000

We’ve all been there: Your math teacher’s explaining the basics of the Pythagorean Theorem, the hypotenuse and all kinds of right triangles – and you’re bored catatonic. To prevent yourself from falling into a coma, you’ve entertained yourself with doodles around your math notebook. If you could only find a way to use your doodles to understand mathematical theories, right? Well, apparently, you can.

The videos below are made by recreational “mathemusician” Vi Hart where she basically explains infinity, factoring, and other mathematical stuff that are normally completely abstract ideas for you. She talks really fast, draws a mean elephant, and you may find yourself enjoying the doodling and math at the same time. Check out the videos below.

via [ MentalFloss ]

Another glimpse at the Avengers movie

Rio — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:06:33 +0000

Okay, Avengers fans are very much aware that it can’t be 2012 soon enough and so they try and find snippets here and there. If you’re one of those waiting for The Avengers, then rejoice as there’s a surprise inside Captain America: The First Avenger’s Blu-ray trailer. So what’s to be gleaned from this trailer of which we speak? Check it out for yourself:

The trailer shows The Avengers bits at around 1:45, and it also shows a snippet of a short film centering on Agent Coulson. The Avengers bits show the members of the superhero team (Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor) plus the movie sets. We even see Joss Whedon doing his thing while wearing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer jacket. If it was all too fast for you, you can head over to the via link below to see the screen caps of the trailer.

via [ io9 ]

Airport napping not a problem with Sleepbox 01

Rica — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:06:27 +0000

A tiny hotel room made especially for travelers is now available in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Russian architects Arch Group have made it possible for travelers to have a safe and comfortable spot to sleep in while waiting for their next flight.

The unit – which can be rented anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours – has two beds, LED reading lamps, and sockets for charging your gadgets. Travelers also have enough space to place their hand-carried bags inside the pod. The sleepbox has a 2.5-3m height and a base of 2.5×1.6m base, and is made from metal, galss-reinforced palstic, or MDF (wood).

The architects also consider railroad stations, public and shopping centers, exhibition centers, and accommodation facilities as ideal locations for installing the Sleepbox.

Via Sleepbox

Cat House: home for kitties

Rica — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:39:29 +0000

In Japan, there’s a residence that’s fit for your pet cats. Called the House of Taishido or Cat House, this home occupies 30 square meters and is three storeys high. It’s located in an urban district west of Tokyo. According to the Tokyo-based architecture firm Key Operation Inc., the home was not initially designed as a house for cats, but certain features were added later on in the design of the home, making the abode friendly for feline pets.

Another architecture firm, Fauna Plus DeSIGN, is known for designing custom homes for cats. It has designed a cat house that accommodates 16 cats at a time. Features of the house include a see-through cat tunnel that stretches around the room, small holes in the walls that serve as portals to the other rooms, a multistage cube of shelves with cat beds, a floor-to-ceiling scratching post which is covered in hemp rope, and a special staircase that serve as cat beds.

Via Inman News

The Thing: Red Band Trailer

Rio — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:47:11 +0000

Just yesterday, we talked about movie monsters and how they have evolved over the years. Many movie monsters have been remade, prequel-ed, or sequel-ed of late and well, another movie monster is about to make a comeback to the big screen. The upcoming film, The Thing, is a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 of the same title.

Set three days before the original movie’s events, it centers on paleontologist Kate Lloyd and a team of Norwegian scientists who discover a crash spacecraft frozen in the Antarctic ice. Anyway, whether or not you’ve watched the first movie with Kurt Russell won’t dampen the impact of this creepy crawler. Don’t just take our word for it, check out the trailer. The Thing slithers to the big screen on October 14.

Resomation: Liquefying the Dead

Rio — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:49:18 +0000

If you’re not really up for burials or cremations (or if your religious beliefs bar those options), then you have another alternative when the time comes to bite the dust. It’s called resomation, and it’s pretty much like cremation except without the fire.

The process basically involves the body being submerged in a solution of potassium hydroxide and water inside a tank. Pressure and heat is then applied to the tank for approximately three hours. At the end of the process, the body’s soft tissues are broken down into its basic components (amino acids, sugars, salts, and peptides, among other chemicals). You are reduced to greenish-brown liquid and bones.

It’s an interesting and eco-friendly alternative. Check out the news report below for more on resomation.

via [ Gawker ]